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HISTORY 


OF 


Roman  Catholicism 


IN 


North  America. 


BT 


THE   KEY.    XAVIER   DONALD    MACLEOD, 

I  PROFESSOR    OF    RHETORIC    AND    BELLES    LETTKES    IN    ST.    MARV's    COLLEGB, 
CTNXINNATI. 


WITH  A  MEMOIR  OF  THE  AUTHOR, 


BY 

THE  MOST  REV.  JOHN  B.  PURCELL,  D.D., 

ARCHBISHOP    OF    CINCINNATI. 


NEW  YORK: 

VIRTUE   &   YORSTON, 

12  Det  Street. 


(^ 


J^ 


A. 


Si'O  2  7^ 


en 
o 


K.  ^^ 


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PUBLISHERS'  NOTICE. 


Catholic  Literature  in  this  country  is  not  yet  rich  in 
works  of  a  historical  character ;  and  though  not  a  few  have 
appeared  evincing  great  research,  and  worthy  of  a  high 
place,  there  was  still  wanting  a  popular  element  which 
genius  alone  could  supply  by  lending  its  charm  to  the  often 
dry  details  of  the  historian. 

The  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  this  country,  from 
its  settlement  to  the  present  day,  was  a  theme  which  had 
been  briefly  touched  upon  by  one  or  two  writers.  Still,  it 
was  a  field  which  the  late  lamented  author  of  the  following 
pages  entered  with  all  the  zeal  and  devotion  of  his  arden'^ 
and  impassioned  character,  and  as  a  necessary  consequenci 
he  gave  his  work  the  stamp  of  his  peculiar  genius. 

Few  more  gifted  writers  have  appeared  among  us  thar 
Xavier  Donald  Macleod  ;  and  in  undertaking  his  work,  ma- 
terial was  contributed  by  his  numerous  friends.  The  writer 
of  this,  one  who  had  enjoyed  that  friendship  from  boyhood^ 
rejoicing  to  see  him  about  to  take  up  a  subject  so  wor- 
thy of  his  talents,  furnished  him  an  abundant  material 
which  he  had  collected,  and  feels  now,  perhaps,  too  great 
pleasure  in  his  privilege  in  having  contributed  to  so  noble 
a  work  as  that  here  presented  to  the  Catholic  public. 

The  early  Spanish  explorers  came  with  the  banner  of 
Mary  ;  the  very  ship  of  Columbus  gave  up  its  profane 
appellation  for  that  of  "  St.  Mary  ;"  the  earliest  shrines 


iv  Publishers'  Notice. 

were  reared  under  her  invocation  ;   bay,  and  river,   and 
mountain  received  the  hallowed  name  ;   the  first  city  on 
the  mainland  that  became  a  bishop's  see  was  St.  Mary's. 
If  the  ardent  sons  of  France  chose  the  icy  realm  of  Canada 
to  plant  the  Jieurs-de-lis,  its  rigors  could  not  chill  devotion 
to  Mary  ;  Cartier,  in  his  distress,  turns  to  Mary,  and  vows 
a  pilgrimage  to  her  shrine  ;  and  Montreal  Island  sees  a  city 
rise  with  the  name  of  Ville  Marie  ;  while,  westward  as  her 
pioneers  and  missionaries  go,  St.  Mary  marks  her  path,  till 
the  great  Mississippi,  the  River  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion, bears  them  down  again  towards  those  Spanish  realms 
where  every  officer  swore  to  defend  tlie  Immaculate  Con- 
ception. 

The  Catholic  settlers  of  the  coast  between,  who  came 
from  the  British  Isles,  came,  too,  with  love  for  Mary  ;  and 
the  land  which  seemed  closed  forever  on  Catholicity,  is 
studded  with  shrines  of  Mary,  and  sees  a  council  of  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  meeting  unchecked  by  government 
dictation,  and  spontaneously  placing  the  land  under  the 
patronage  of  St.  Mary's  Immaculate  Conception. 

Such  is  the  theme  of  this  beautiful  work,  last  and  noblest 
offering  of  the  genius  of  Xavier  Donald  Macleod.  It  can- 
not but  be  read  with  charm  and  delight,  or  fail  to  quicken 
and  animate  zeal  and  devotion. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Paga 
General  View — Nattjhal  Growth  of  the  Devotion — First  Catho- 
lics— Southern  States  and  Canada — Otr  Lady's  Discovery  of 
America — Churches  of  her  Name — Ministers  of  the  Devotion — 
European  and  American  Devotion — Honor  dub  to  Mary— Emi- 
grants— Patroness  of  the  United  States 1 

CHAPTER  II. 

Zeal  of  Pioneers — Champlain  and  the  Eeoolleots — Mother  Mary 
OF  THE  Incarnation  and  the  Ursulines — Marquette  and  the  Im- 
maculate Conception 30 

CHAPTER  III. 

Advance  of  the  Devotion — First  Seventy-five  Years — Jesihts  in 
Canada — Our  Lady  of  Angels— Olier  and  St.  Sulpioe — The  City 
of  Mary — Mademoiselle  Manse  and  the  Hospital  Sisters 60 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Maroueeite  Bocrgeoys  and  the  Congregation  of  Oub  Lady 81 

CHAPTER  V. 

Extermination  of  the  Hurons — Our  Lady  of  Foie — New  Loretto— 
The  Northwest — Immaculate  Conception  in  Illinois — Mary  Ako 
— Down  the  Mississippi — Back  to  Montreal — Our  Lady's  Guard 
— The  Congregation  again — The  Eecluse  of  Ville- Marie — Our 
Lady  of  Angels 108 


6  Contents. 

CHAPTER  YI. 

Page 

Devotion  or  the  Holt  Family — Oub  Lady  of  Viotoby — Otje  Lady 
OF  Good  Help — Oub  Lady  of  the  Visitation — Lodge  of  the  Im- 
maculate Conception — Oub  Lady  of  Snows — Cathedeal  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception,  and  Chueches  of  Oub  Lady  in  Quebec.  127 

CHAPTER  YII. 

Devotion  in  Texas,  Califoenia,  and  New  Mexico — Oub  Lady  of 
Guadalupe— The  New  Mount  Caemel — The  Atlantic  Spanish 
Missionaries — Maeyland 1^8 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Devotion  in  Maine — Silleet  and  Chaudiebe — Wampum  Belt 
FOE  NoTEE  Dame  de  Chaetees — The  Vow  of  the  Owenagunga — 
Mission  of  the  Kennebec — Mcedeb  of  Fathee  Easles— The 
Catholic  Eed-skin  and  the  Pubitan  Council 165 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Devotion  in  New  Yobk — The  Saint  of  the  Mohawks — Sadjt 
Maey  among  the  Ieoquois 184 

CHAPTER  X. 
Oub  Ladt  of  Loeetto  of  the  Hueons 205 

CHAPTER  XI. 

OuE  Lady's  Assumption,  a.  d.  1790,  and  what  came  of  it — A  Mission- 
ABY  Peinoe 220 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Oub  Lady  of  the  Lake 238 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Oub  Lady's  Sistees — Les  Sceubs  de  Notee  Dame 258 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

OuE  Lady  of  Mebcy  and  Chaeity — Oub  Lady's  loving  Fbiends  at 
the  Ceoss — OuE  Lady  of  Chbist's  peecious  Blood 265 


Contents.  7 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Paga 
OcB  Ladt  of  Saint  Uesula  and  Saint  Angela 287 

CHAPTER  XYI. 

Vaeious  Orders  of  Our  Lady — Pllgrimages  to  Our  Ladt  of  Pbaok, 
OF  Merot,  of  Grace,  and  back  to  Our  Lady  of  Good  Help  en 
Montreal 813 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Gillie-Maiei  HAN  Gael. — Males  teba  Wanbanakki  Alnambak 888 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Oblati  MARLffl  Immaculate — Offered  for  Mart  Immaculate 856 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Mart's  Oblates  on  the  Atlantic  and  m  thb  Land  of  thb  Da- 
COTAH 892 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Company  of  Jesus  again — Immaculate  Conception  in  Boreal  Lati- 
tudes— Devotion  in  Minnesota — Our  Lady  of  the  Eookt  Moun- 
tains    408 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  Blaok-robe  m  Oregon — How  the  Black-robe  Dies — Eockt 
Mountains  again — The  March  of  the  Blacefeet  towards  the 
Shrine  of  Oue  Ladt — Abenaki  and  Flathead  touch  hands....  437 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
Bboesn  Threads — Conclusion 458 


INSCRIBED 


BY    THE    PUBLISHERS 

TO 

OF 

THE    AUTHOR. 


MEMOIR 

BY  THE  MOST  REV.  JOHN  B.  PURCELL,  D.D., 


AKCHBISHOP  OP  CXNCINNATI. 


The  author  of  the  following  history  of  the  Devotion  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  Mother  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in 
North  America,  Rev.  Donald  Xavier  MacLeod,  was  a  native 
of  New  York,  and  a  convert  to  the  Catholic  Church.  Not- 
withstanding the  ardent  temper  and  impetuous  character 
which  he  received  from  nature,  soon  as  he  had  finished  his 
collegiate  course  he  took  orders,  as  they  are  called,  in  the 
Episcopal  Church,  and  exercised  ministerial  functions  in  his 
native  State,  and  subsequently  as  a  presbyter  of  the  Right 
Rev,  Dr.  Ives,  the  illustrious  convert,  in  North  Carolina. 
Neither  the  bishop  nor  his  curate  was  satisfied  in  the 
Anglican  communion.  They  had  read  her  history.  They 
knew  the  vice  of  her  origin,  the  hollowness  of  her  preten- 
sions. They  beheld  her  sanguinary,  self-inflicted  wound  of 
schism  ever  bleeding.  She  was  for  them  the  bad  fruit  of  a 
bad  tree — the  creation,  or  the  creature,  of  an  Act  of  an  obse- 
quious Parliament ;  and  that  neither  in  England  nor  in  the 
United  States  could  she  assert  her  claim  to  the  marks  by 
which  the  Gospels  and  the  first  four  general  councils  teach 
us  to  recognize  the  one  Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church 
of  Christ.  Before  the  minds  of  bishop  and  minister  were 
fully  irradiated  by  the  ever  growing  splendor  of  Catholic 

1* 


X  Memoir. 

truth,  they  practised  some  of  the  ordinances  and  rites  pecu- 
liar to  the  old  Church,  They  went  to  confession  to  one 
another  ;  they  gave  each  other  salutary  penances.  They 
adorned  their  churches  as  Catholics,  from  time  immemorial, 
had  been  wont  to  do  on  the  greater  festivals  ;  and  of  Mr. 
MacLeod,  in  particular,  it  may  be  said  that,  while  the  proofs 
of  the  truth  of  our  holy  faith  satisfied  his  judgment,  the 
aesthetics  of  religion  had  a  special  charm  for  his  soul. 

After  his  abandonment  of  the  ministry  and  religious  opin- 
ions of  the  Reformation,  Mr.  MacLeod,  for  some  years,  de- 
voted his  time  to  literary  pursuits,  writing  books  and 
delivering  lectures  in  many  of  our  cities.  In  St.  Louis, 
where  he  was,  if  we  mistake  not,  connected  with  the  edi- 
torial department  of  a  newspaper  or  a  magazine,  he  became 
attached  to  an  accomplished  young  lady  of  the  best  society; 
but,  after  having  gone  even  to  the  altar  for  the  marriage 
ceremony,  the  match  was  for  some  reason,  for  which  neither 
himself  nor  the  lady  was  to  blame,  suddenly  broken  off. 
We  have  the  assurance  of  a  highly  respectable  priest  of  St. 
Louis,  who  was  perfectly  cognizant  of  all  the  proceedings, 
that  the  conduct  of  Mr.  MacLeod  was  all  that  could  have 
been  expected,  in  the  premises,  from  a  Christian  and  a  man 
of  honor. 

The  world  having  no  longer  any  attractions  for  Mr.  Mac 
Leod,  he  wrote  to  his  friend,  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  of 
Cincinnati,  stating  that  he  and  the  world  had  irreconcilably 
quarrelled,  and  reminding  him  of  a  promise,  when  such  an 
eventuality  occurred,  to  take  him  under  his  own  protection 
and  care.  His  request  was  promptly  granted,  and  the  sem- 
inary of  Mount  St.  Mary's  assigned  him  for  his  home.  In 
this  institution  he  continued  several  years,  teaching,  study- 
ing theology,  and  disciplining  his  mind  and  manner,  in  refer- 
ence to  his  aspirations  to  the  priesthood.  Here,  after  mature 
reflection,  he  received  the  clerical  tonsure  and  minor  orders 
on  Thursday,  13th  December,  1860.     In  March  of  the  fol- 


Memoie.  xi 

lowing  year  he  was  ordained  snb-deacon ;  in  October, 
deacon  and  priest.  From  the  seminary  he  continued  for 
some  time  to  visit  Sedamsville  and  North  Bend,  collecting' 
together  the  scattered  Catholics,  catechizing  the  children, 
and  visiting  the  sick,  until,  the  little  church  of  St.  Vincent 
of  Paul  being  built,  he  took  up  his  modest  lodgings  in  the 
basement,  where  he  continued,  without  a  murmur,  to  bear 
privations  such  as  fall  to  the  lot  of  but  few  priests,  until  his 
lamented  death.  Of  the  acceptableness  of  his  ministrations 
at  Sedamsville,  and  the  manner  of  his  death,  we  here  insert 
the  account  given  in  his  obituary  written  by  H.  C.  Lord, 
Esq.,  Superintendent  of  the  Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati 
Railroad,  taken  from  the  "  Cincinnati  Commercial,"  of  Mon- 
day, 3d  July, — his  death  having  occurred  on  Friday,  30th 
June,  1865  : 

"  The  Rev.  Donald  MacLeod. 

"  Eds.  Com. — A  short  paragraph  in  the  morning  papers,  of 
Saturday,  announced  that  the  Rev,  Donald  MacLeod,  pastor 
of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Sedamsville,  had  been  accidentally 
killed  by  a  train  on  the  Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati  Rail- 
road, on  Friday  evening. 

"It  is  proper  for  me  to  explain  the  circumstances  of  this 
sad  event.  Father  MacLeod  was,  at  the  time,  on  his  way 
to  visit  a  poor  woman,  who  was  thought  by  her  husband 
and  friends  to  be  dangerously  ill,  and  who  had  requested 
the  attendance  of  her  faithful  pastor.  As  he  turned  into 
the  street  which  crossed  the  roads  of  the  Ohio  and  Missis- 
sippi, and  Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati  companies,  he  was 
stopped  by  a  passing  train  on  the  former  road.  At  the 
time,  he  was  standing  on  the  track  of  the  latter  road,  and 
at  a  sharp  curve.  The  noise  of  the  passing  train  drowned 
the  signals  of  the  approaching  train  on  the  Indianapolis  and 
Cincinnati  track.  He  was  struck  by  the  latter  and  instantly 
killed.     He  died  while  on  his  eiTand  of  duty  and  mercy. 


xii  Memoir. 

"  This  event  has  cast  a  gloom  over  our  little  communitj, 
and  I  cannot  help  referring'  to  some  of  the  peculiar  traits 
of  character  and  disposition  which  had  endeared  Father 
MacLeod  to  myself  and  so  many  of  his  personal  friends  and 
admirers,  and  to  so  many  of  the  poor  and  laboring  people 
among  whom  he  mingled,  and  by  whom  he  was  so  much 
beloved. 

"  My  acquaintance  with  Father  MacLeod  commenced  but 
a  few  months  ago,  yet  at  the  time  of  his  death  I  knew  him 
well.  I  had  learned  to  appreciate  his  excellent  qualities  of 
heart,  and  to  honor  his  restless  and  vigorous  intellect,  his 
independent  judgment,  his  fine  scholarship,  and  his  great 
learning.  He  was  a  man  of  remarkable  energy.  In  look- 
ing after  the  necessities  of  his  little  church,  in  hunting  up 
the  needy  and  destitute,  in  ministering  to  their  wants,  in 
consoling  the  sick,  in  cheering  on  the  well,  working  as  will- 
ingly by  night  as  by  day,  in  the  rain  and  under  the  glare 
of  the  sun,  he  never  seemed  fatigued  or  tired  of  his  mission. 
Whatever  he  had  to  do  he  did  cheerfully  and  with  all  bis 
might.  Hundreds  of  section-men  and  laborers  on  the  two 
roads  between  Cincinnati  and  Lawrenceburg  will  bear  testi- 
mony to  their  knowledge  of  him,  and  to  his  knowledge  of 
them  ;  to  their  love  and  respect  for  the  positive,  yet  good- 
natured  priest,  to  his  unfailing  kindness  to  them  and  to 
their  households,  and  to  his  influence  and  control  over  them, 
which  never  lost  its  bold. 

"  Father  MacLeod  was  a  man  of  rare  independence  of 
judgment.  He  never  adopted  the  opinions  of  others,  but  held 
them  subject  to  a  severe  analysis,  and  only  accepted  them 
when  they  accorded  with  his  own  well-defined  convictions. 
Whatever  position  he  took,  whether  in  the  Church  or  as  a 
citizen,  he  took  conscientiously  and  with  determination,  and 
upon  his  own  judgment,  and  he  would  recognize  no  human 
authority  as  above  his  own  conscience  or  the  conclusions  of 
his  own  intellect. 


Memoie.  xiii 

"  Father  MacLeod  was  a  man  of  rare  learning.  I  do  not 
speak  of  him  as  a  theologian,  nor  of  his  acquirements  in 
that  department  of  knowledge,  but  as  a  master  of  history, 
sacred  and  profane,  of  political  economy,  of  many  languages, 
ancient  and  modern,  of  natural  philosophy,  geology,  botany, 
and  their  kindred  sciences.  His  acquirements  were  equally 
varied  and  substantial  ;  and  I  have  often  heard  him,  in  the 
same  hour,  instruct  a  wise  man  and  delight  a  child.  As  an 
author  he  was  well  known,  and  his  life  of  '  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots'  drew  from  Washington  Irving  a  most  touching  and 
beautiful  letter  of  commendation,  in  which  that  gifted  man 
thanked  our  friend  for  having  so  ably  and  generously  vindi- 
cated the  character  of  a  suffering  woman  and  the  truth  of 
history. 

"  But  it  is  to  the  genial  traits  and  generous  friendship  of 
Father  MacLeod  that  I  love  most  to  refer.  He  was  a  man 
of  strong  impulses,  quick,  and  sometimes  violent  temper  : 
but  his  impulses  were  generous,  and  he  ever  struggled  to 
control  his  temper,  and  was  always  ready  to  recall  an  unkind 
word  and  to  correct  a  false  impression.  A  kind  word  to 
him  always  brought  a  kind  word  from  him,  and  he  loved  to 
serve  and  defend  his  friends.  It  was  a  cruel  and  merciless 
engine  that,  with  its  terrible  blow,  shattered  that  manly 
and  vigorous  frame,  and  in  an  instant  of  time  stunned  the 
great  and  restless  brain,  stilled  the  loving  and  generous 
heart,  and  released  the  spirit  of  Donald  MacLeod. 

"  H.  C.  Lord." 

The  writer  of  this  notice  is  not  a  Catholic.  But  it  shows 
that  the  character,  the  acquirements,  and  the  talents  of  the 
deceased  were  appreciated  and  admired  by  others  as  well 
as  by  those  of  his  own  Church.  The  independence  of  all 
human  authority  so  justly  claimed  for  him,  was  confined  to 
subjects  of  a  merely  human  or  secular  description.  To 
Church  authority,  in  which  he  recognized  the  authority  of 


xiv  Memoik. 

God,  he  was  at  all  times  amenable.  To  her  decisions  he 
submitted, — if  with  a  reasoning  and  a  reasonable  conviction 
of  his  clear  and  vigorous  intellect,  yet  with  the  childlike 
simplicity  which  taught  him  that,  when  God  speaks  through 
an  infallible  tribunal,  it  is  the  enlightened  Christian's  duty 
to  listen  and  to  obey. 

Devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  zeal  for  her  honor, 
was  a  ruling  passion  of  the  soul  of  Rev.  Mr.  MacLeod.  He 
was  her  client,  her  son,  her  knight,  her  priest.  The  "Le- 
gends of  Holy  Mary"  and  "  Our  Lady  of  Litanies"  preceded 
the  beautiful  "  History  of  the  Devotion  to  Mary  in  North 
America,"  which  we  now  present  to  our  readers.  But  an- 
other proof  of  his  veneration  for  the  Immaculate  may  aptly 
find  its  place  here.  The  first  sermon  he  preached  after  his 
ordination  was  on  the  purity  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  The 
choice  of  this  subject  was  probably  suggested  by  the  publi 
cation  of  a  tractate  called  "  James,  the  Lord's  brother,"  by 
one  Chauncey  Fitch,  an  Episcopalian  minister  of  Piqua, 
Miami  County,  Ohio.  The  object  of  this  tractate  was  to 
show  that  Mary  had  other  sons  besides  the  Lord.  It  was 
highly  recommended  by  the  Episcopal  bishop,  Mcllvaine,  of 
Ohio.  The  bishop  thus  speaks  of  it  in  a  letter  to  Rev.  Dr. 
Anthon,  editor  f)f  the  "  New  York  Protestant  Churchman  :" 

"  Rev.  and  Deae  Sir — I  believe  you  know  something  of  a  trac- 
tate which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fitch  of  Ohio  has  written  on  '  James,  the 
Lord's  brother.'  He  has  recently  completed  a  full  carrying  out  of  the 
argument,  and  made,  I  think,  a  very  conclusive  proof  that  James  was 
the  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  and  really,  literally,  the  Lord's  brother. 
It  upsets  the  whole  Mariolatry,  and  all  her  claims  to  supremacy 
through  Peter.  .  .  I  believe  it  would  be  as  good  an  article  in  the 
Romish  controversy  as  we  could  pubUsh. 

"  Yours,  affectionately,  C.  P.  MclLVAlNE. 

"  Cincinnati,  Jan.  19,  1857." 

Commenting  on  this  letter  of  the  bishop,  Father  MacLeod 


Memoir.  xv 

remarks,   in    n    printed    refutation   of    Fitch's   theory,   as 
follows  : 

"MARY  EVER  VIRGIN." 

That  Catholics  may  see  and  know  how  unfaithful  and 
utterly  false  to  the  principles  of  their  own  creed  are  lead- 
ing Episcopalians,  we  reprint  in  this  form  a  letter  from  an 
Episcopalian  to  the  "  Catholic  Telegraph,"  January  22,  1859, 
which  sets  forth  the  real  teachings  of  the  Episcopal  body 
on  the  subject  of  the  perpetual  Virginity  of  the  Mother  of 
our  Lord.  The  letter  being  a  contribution,  we  shall  not 
change  it,  but  print  it  as  it  came  to  us. 

Now  this  same  Bishop  of  Ohio  (1)  disbelieves,  if  he  had 
any  religious  belief  or  disbelief  at  all,  the  whole  contents  of 
Fitch's  emanation.  That  same  Bishop  of  Ohio,  in  common 
with  all  other  bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
assigned  Dr.  Gilbert  Pearson's  Exposition  of  the  Creed  as  the 
only  standard  dogmatic  work  in  his  communion,  as  the  one 
dogmatic  guide  of  his  theological  students,  and  as  the  text- 
book of  the  General  Theological  Seminary  in  New  York.  If 
he  do  not  believe  with  Pearson,  he  is  false  to  his  trust  and 
position  in  giving  such  a  work  to  his  students  ;  if  he  do, 
he,  by  his  approval  of  Fitch  for  the  sake  of  a  dirty  insult 
to  Roman  Catholics,  has  carried  dishonorable  baseness  to  an 
extent  of  which  his  is  the  only  example.  Furthermore,  by 
so  doing,  he  not  only  denies  the  common  faith  of  all  Chris- 
tians and  the  applicability  of  the  passages  from  the  proph- 
ets universally  applied  to  our  Lord,  but  also  shows  an 
ignorance  of  the  mere  letter  of  Scripture,  which  may  be 
pardonable  in  an  Episcopalian  Bishop,  but  which  should  be 
a  reasonable  cause  of  degradation  to  the  assistant  sexton  in 
a  Hard  Shell  Baptist  Conventicle. 

The  book  from  which  I  quote  is  "An  Exposition  of  the 
Creed,  by  John  Pearson,  Bishop  of  Chester  (in  the  16th  cen- 
tury). New  York  :  Appleton  &  Co.    185t."    It  is  as  follows  ; 


xviii  IMemoib. 

dren  of  Israel,  both  of  man  and  beast,  it  is  mine.'  (Exod. 
xiii.  2.)  The  apertion  of  the  womb  determined  the  first- 
born ;  and  the  law  of  redemption  excludeth  all  such  ter- 
giversation :  '  Those  that  are  redeemed,  from  a  month  old 
thou  shalt  redeem'  (Numb,  xviii.  16)  ;  no  staying  to  make 
up  the  relation,  no  expecting  another  birth  to  perfect  the 
redemption.  Being  then  '  they  brought  our  Saviour  to 
Jerusalem  to  present  him  to  the  Lord,  as  it  is  written  in 
Law  of  the  Lord'  (Luke,  ii.  22,  23),  it  is  evident  that  he 
was  called  the  first-born  of  Mary  according  to  the  notion  of 
the  Law  of  Moses,  and  consequently  that  title  inferreth  no 
succession,  nor  proveth  the  mother  to  have  any  other 
offspring. 

"  Indeed,  as  they  thirdly  object,  it  cannot  be  denied  but 
that  we  read  expressly  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  brethren  of 
our   Lord  :    '  He  went   down   to   Capernaum,   he,  and   his 
mother,  and  his  brethren'  (John,  ii.  12),  and,  'While  he 
talked  unto  the  people,  his  mother  and  his  brethren  stood 
without,  desiring  to  speak  with  him.'     (Matt.  xii.  46.)     But 
although  his  mother  and  his  brethren  be  named  together, 
yet  they  are  never  called  the  sons  of  his  mother  ;  and  the 
question    is   not   whether   Christ   had    any   brethren,    but 
whether  his  mother  brought  forth  any  other  children.     It 
is  possible  Joseph  might  have  had  children  before  Mary  was 
espoused  to  him  ;  and  then,  as  he  was  reputed  and  called 
our  Saviour's  father,  so  might  they  well  be  accounted  and 
called  his  brethren,  as  the  ancient  fathers,  especially  of  the 
Greek   Church,   have   taught.     Nor  need  we   thus   assert 
that  Joseph  had  any  offspring,  because  the  language  of 
the  Jews  includeth  in  the  name  of  brethren  not  only  the 
strict  relation  of  fraternity,  but  also  the  larger  of  consan- 
guinity ;  and  therefore  it  is  sufficient  satisfaction  for  that 
expression,  that  there  were  such  persons  allied  unto  the 
Blessed   Virgin.      'We   be   brethren'    (Gen.    xiii.    8),    said 
Abraham  unto  Lot :  when  Abraham  was  the  son  of  Terah, 


Memoie.  xiy 

Lot  of  Haran,  and  consequently  not  his  brother,  but  his 
nephew,  and,  as  elsewhere  properly  styled, /the  son  of  his 
brother.'  (Gen.  xii.  5.)  'Moses  called  Mishael  and  Elza- 
phan,  the  sons  of  Uzziel  the  uncle  of  Aaron,  and  said  unto 
them,  Come  near,  carry  your  brethren  from  before  the  sanc- 
tuary' (Lev.  X.  4)  ;  whereas  those  brethren  were  Nadab 
and  Abihu,  the  sons  not  of  Uzziel  but  of  Aaron.  '  Jacob 
told  Rachel  that  he  was  her  father's  brother,  and  that  he 
was  Rebekah's  son'  (Gen.  xxix.  12)  ;  whereas,  Rebekah 
was  the  sister  of  Rachel's  father.  It  is  sufficient,  there- 
fore, that  the  evangelists,  according  to  the  constant  lan- 
guage of  the  Jews,  called  the  kindred  of  the  Blessed  Vir- 
gin the  brethren  and  sisters  of  her  only  son  ;  which  indeed 
is  something  the  later,  but  the  most  generally  approved 
answer. 

"  And  yet  this  difficulty,  though  usually  no  further  con- 
sidered, is  not  fully  cleared  ;  for  they  which  impugned  the 
perpetual  virginity  of  the  mother  of  our  Lord,  urged  it  fur- 
ther, pretending  that  as  the  Scriptures  called  them  the 
brethren  of  Chrid,  so  they  also  showed  them  to  be  the  sons 
of  Mary,  the  mother  of  Christ.  For  first  the  Jews  express 
them  particularly  by  their  names,  '  Is  not  his  mother  called 
Mary  ?  and  his  brethren,  James,  and  Joses,  and  Simon,  and 
Judas?'  (Matt.  xiii.  55.)  Therefore,  James  and  Joses 
were  undoubtedly  the  brethren  of  Christ,  and  the  same 
were  also  as  unquestionably  sons  of  Mary  :  for  among  the 
women  at  the  cross  we  find  '  Mary  Magdalene  and  Mary 
the  mother  of  James  and  Joses.'  (Matt,  xxvii.  56.)  Again, 
this  Mary,  they  think,  can  be  no  other  than  the  Mother  of 
our  Lord,  because  they  find  her  early  in  the  morning  at  the 
sepulchre  with  Mary  Magdalene  and  Salome  (Mark,  xvi.  1)  ; 
and  it  is  not  probable  that  any  should  have  more  care  of 
the  body  of  the  son  than  the  mother.  She  then  who  was 
certainly  present  at  the  cross,  was  not  probably  absent  from 
the  sepulchre ;  wherefore,  they  conclude,  she  was  the  mother 


XX  Memoir. 

of  Christ,  who  was  the  mother  of  James  and  Joses,  the 
brethren  of  Christ. 

"  And  now  the  urging'  of  this  argument  will  produce  a 
greater  clearness  in  the  solution  of  the  question.  For  if  it 
appear  that  Mary  the  mother  of  James  and  Joses  was  differ- 
ent and  distinguished  from  Mary  the  Virgin,  then  will  it 
also  be  apparent  that  the  brethren  of  our  Lord  were  the 
sons  of  another  mother,  for  James  and  Joses  were  so  called. 
But  we  read  in  St.  John,  that  '  there  stood  by  the  cross  of 
Jesus,  his  mother  and  his  mother's  sister,  Mary  the  wife  of 
Cleophas,  and  Mary  Magdalene.'  (John,  xix.  25.)  In  the 
rest  of  the  evangelists  we  find  at  the  same  place,  '  Mary 
Magdalene  and  Mary  the  mother  of  James  and  Joses'  (Matt. 
xxviii.  56  ;  Mark,  xv.  40) ;  and  again  at  the  sepulchre,  '  Mary 
Magdalene  and  the  other  Mary'  (Matt,  xxviii.  1)  ;  where- 
fore that  other  Mary,  by  the  conjunction  of  these  testimonies, 
appeareth  to  be  Mary,  the  rvife  of  Cleophas,  and  the  mother  of 
James  and  Joses;  and  consequently  James  and  Joses,  the 
brethren  of  our  Lord,  were  not  the  sons  of  Mary  his  mother, 
but  of  the  other  Mary,  and  therefore  called  his  brethren  ac- 
cording to  the  language  of  the  Jews,  because  that  the  other 
Mary  was  the  sister  of  his  mother." 

"  Notwithstanding,  therefore,  all  these  pretensions,  there 
can  be  nothing  found  to  raise  the  least  suspicion  of  any 
interruption  of  the  ever  Blessed  Mary's  perpetual  virginity. 
For  as  she  was  a  virgin  when  she  conceived,  and  after 
she  brought  forth  our  Saviour  ;  so  did  she  continue  in  the 
same  state  and  condition,  and  was  commended  by  our 
Saviour  to  his  beloved  disciple,  as  a  mother  only  now  of  an 
adopted  son. 

"  The  consideration  of  all  which  will  at  last  lead  us  to  a 
clear  explication  of  this  latter  branch  of  the  Article,  tvhere- 
by  every  Christian  may  inform  himself  that  he  is  bound  to 
profess,  and  being  informed,  fully  express  what  is  the  ob- 
ject of  his  faith  in  this  particular,  when  he  saitb,  I  believe 


Memoir.  xxi 

iu  Jesus  Christ  who  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  For 
hereby  he  is  conceived  to  intend  thus  much :  I  assent  nnto 
this  as  a  most  certain  and  infallible  truth,  that  there  was  a 
certain  woman,  known  by  the  name  of  Mary,  espoused  unto 
Joseph  of  Nazareth,  which  before  and  after  her  espousals 
was  a  pure  and  unspotted  virgin,  and  being  and  continuing 
in  the  same  virginity,  did,  by  the  immediate  operation  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  conceive  within  her  womb  the  only-begotten 
Son  of  God,  and,  after  the  natural  time  of  other  women, 
brought  him  forth  as  her  first-born  son,  continuing  still  a 
most  pure  and  immaculate  virgin  /  whereby  the  Saviour  of 
the  world  was  born  of  a  woman  under  the  Law,  without 
the  least  pretence  of  any  original  corruption,  that  he  might 
deliver  us  from  the  guilt  of  sin  ;  born  of  that  Virgin  which 
was  of  the  house  and  lineage  of  David,  that  he  might  sit  upon 
his  throne,  and  rule  for  evermore.  And  in  this  latitude  I 
profess  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary." 

We  have  a  word  to  add  to  this.  "  The  Western  Church- 
man," organ  of  the  Episcopalians  here,  endeavored  to  cast 
discredit  upon  the  above  quotations.  Now  this  was  sheer 
impudence.  The  book  is  not  only  an  Episcopal  dogmatic 
text-book,  but  it  is  their  only  one.  The  title  and  the 
publisher's  name  are  given  above,  and  may  be  verified  by 
anybody  who  chooses  to  take  the  trouble.  The  quotation 
begins  upon  page  263,  Article  III.,  "Born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,"  and  is  unbroken  to  the  last  paragraph,  beginning, 
"The  consideration  of  all  which,"  etc.  Between  that  and 
the  preceding  matter,  intervenes  the  proof  of  the  title 
"  Mother  of  God,"  and  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  Mary's 
Immaculacy  to  the  Incarnation. 

From  this  intervening  and  very  brief  portion  we  add  one 
further  quotation  to  those  given  above  : 

"  The  necessity  of  believing  our  Saviour  thus  to  be  born 


xxii  Memoib. 

of  the  Virgin  Mary,  will  appear  both  in  respect  of  her  who 
was  the  Mother,  and  of  Him  who  was  the  Son.  In  respect 
of  her  it  was  necessary,  that  we  might  perpetually  pPvEserve 

AN  ESTEEM  OF  HEK  PERSON    PROPORTIONABLE  TO  SO  HIGH  A  DIGNITY. 

It  was  ber  own  prediction,  '  From  henceforth  all  genera- 
tions SHALL  call  me  BLESSED,'  (Luke,  i.  48);  but  this  obligation 
is  ours,  to  call  her,  to  esteem  her  so.  If  Elizabeth  cried  out 
with  so  loud  a  voice,  '  Blessed  art  thou  among  women,'  when 
Christ  was  but  newly  conceived  in  her  womb  ;  what  ex- 
pressions OF  honor  and  op  admiration  can  we  think  suffi- 
cient now  that  Christ  is  in  Heaven  and  that  mother  with 
Him  I  Far  be  it  from  any  Christian  to  derogate  from  that 
special  privilege  granted  unto  her,  which  is  incommunica- 
ble to  any  other.  We  cannot  bear  too  reverent  a  regard 
vmto  the  Mother  of  our  Lord,  so  long  as  we  give  her 
not  that  worship  which  is  due  unto  the  Lord  Himself." 
—P.  2t2. 

God  grant  that  these  words  of  old  Bishop  Pearson  may 
influence  the  hearts  of  his  pretended  co-religionists  here,  if 
not  to  less  hatred  of  the  Church,  at  least  to  respect  and 
sense  of  propriety  and  decency  towards  her  whom  their 
Prayer-book  calls  the  "  Blessed  Virgin  Mary." 

We  cannot  resist  the  desire  of  embodying  in  this  notice 
of  the  eloquent  defender  of  Mary's  prerogative,  the  beauti- 
ful tribute  to  the  effect  of  mediaeval  devotion  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  a  very  com- 
pulsory witness  indeed,  "  Lecky's  Eationalism  in  Europe," 
vol.  ii.,  pp.  224,  225.  The  reader  will  perceive  that  only  an 
enemy  and  a  bigot  would  use  the  words  "  benighted  and 
monkish"  in  such  connection. 

"The  world  is  governed  by  its  ideals,  and  seldom  or 
never  has  there  been  one  which  has  exercised  a.  more  pro- 
found and,  on  the  whole,  a  more  salutary  influence  than  the 


Memoir.  xxiii 

mediaeval  conception  of  the  Virgin.  For  the  first  time  woman 
was  elevated  to  her  rightful  position,  and  the  sanctity  of 
weakness  was  recognized  as  well  as  the  sanctity  of  sorrow. 
No  longer  the  slave  or  toy  of  man,  no  longer  associated 
only  with  ideas  of  degradation  and  sensuality,  woman  rose, 
in  the  person  of  the  Virgin  Mother,  into  a  new  sphere,  and 
became  the  object  of  a  reverential  homage  of  which  anti- 
quity had  had  no  conception.  Love  was  idealized.  The  moral 
charm  and  beauty  of  female  excellence  was,  for  the  first 
time,  felt.  A  new  type  of  character  was  called  into  being, 
a  new  kind  of  admiration  was  fostered.  Into  a  harsh  and 
ignorant  and  benighted  age  this  ideal  type  infused  a  con- 
ception of  gentleness  and  of  purity  unknown  to  the  proudest 
civilization  of  the  past.  In  the  pages  of  living  tenderness, 
which  many  a  monkish  writer  has  left  in  honor  of  his  celes- 
tial patron  ;  in  the  millions  who  in  many  lands  and  in  many 
ages  have  sought  with  no  barren  desire  to  mould  their 
characters  into  her  image  ;  in  those  holy  maidens  who,  for 
the  love  of  Mary,  have  separated  themselves  from  all  the 
glories  and  pleasures  of  the  world,  to  seek  in  fastings  and 
vigils  and  humble  charity  to  render  themselves  worthy  of 
her  benediction  ;  in  the  new  sense  of  honor,  in  the  chival- 
rous respect,  in  the  softness  of  manners,  in  the  refinement  of 
tastes  displayed  in  all  the  walks  of  society  ;  in  those  and 
in  many  other  ways,  we  detect  its  influence.  All  that  was 
best  in  Europe  clustered  around  it,  and  it  is  the  origin  of 
many  of  the  purest  elements  of  our  civilization." — Vol.  i., 
pp.  225,  226. 


■WBidjiraj 


TMl     ILMLMAGUILATE    GOMSEIPTIOH, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVOTION 


TO 


THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN  MARY 

IN  NOETH  AMEEICA. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

General  View — Columbus — Natural  Growth  of  this  Devotion— First 
Catholics— THE  Southern  States  and  Canada — Our  Ladt's  Dis- 
covert OF  America — Churches  of  her  Name — Ministers  of  the  De- 
votion—European AiTD  American  Devotion — Honor  due  to  Mart- 
Emigrants — Patroness  of  the  United  States. 

The  little  seaport  town  of  Palos,  in  Andalusia,  lay 
basking  in  the  sun,  and  its  harbor  was  crowded  with 
swarthy  sight-seers  and  vocal  with  wondering  tongues. 
The  cool  mountain  waters  of  the  Tiato  brawled  past 
the  haven,  and  flowed  into  the  broad  Atlantic.  Out  on 
the  burnished  sea  three  caravels  lay  at  anchor. 

The  crowd  had  assembled  to  see  a  set  of  madmen, 
as  they  called  them,  depart  upon  a  hopeless  voyage. 
Their  tongues  were  busy  in  discussing  the  probable 
manner  in  which  evil  fate  would  fall  on  the  expedition, 
for  no  one  dreamed  of  a  happy  issue  for  the  adventure. 
If  any  dared  to  suggest  such  a  probability,  he,  too, 
was  hooted  at  as  insane,  and  ironically  recommended 
to  ship  for  the  voyage. 

1 


2  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  IMaey 

And,  as  tliey  disputed  and  sneered,  ever  and  anon  a 
strain  of  tlie  Mass-music  would  swell  out  from  the 
churcli,  where  Faith  was  kneeling  to  ask  protection ; 
where  Confidence  was  drawing  new  strength  from  de- 
votion to  God  and  Mary.  For  the  adventurers,  their 
commander  at  their  head,  were  preparing,  by  confes- 
sion and  Holy  Communion,  to  enter  like  Christian  men 
upon  their  perilous  undertaking/ 

Then  the  Mass  was  over,  and  out  from  the  church, 
grave,  resolute,  and  calm,  walked  the  admiral  at  the 
head  of  his  crew ;  and  the  crowd,  hushed  into  silence, 
opened  a  way  for  the  procession  to  the  jetty. 

A  few  moments  were  allowed  for  farewells.  Then 
the  brief  orders  were  given,  and  the  sailors  entering 
the  boats,  rowed  out  to  their  respective  vessels. 

Then  the  report  of  the  culverin  sounded  from  the 
bows,  and  the  standard  of  Castile  swung  out  to  the 
April  breeze  from  the  peak  of  the  Santa  Maria  ;  and 
the  crew  cheered,  and  the  crowd  on  shore  responded, 
as  the  admiral  stepped  on  board. 

A  few  moments  more  and  the  anchors  were  weighed, 
the  yards  were  trimmed,  the  sails  filled,  and  the  flotilla 
of  Columbus  stood  out  to  sea.  And  with  it,  as  it 
crossed  those  pathless  waters,  the  love  and  protection 
of  our  dear  Lady  and  Mother  floated  over  the  Atlantic 
to  the  shores  of  America.'' 


'  Prescott :  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  ii.  1 30. 

"  The  humble  and  reverent  spirit  in  which  Catholics  undertook 
their  great  labors  is  wondered  at,  and  sometimes  even  sneered  at,  by 
jnodern  historians.     These  do  not  understand  the  consecration  of  all 


IN  North  Ajeeeica.  3 

The  first  land  touched  by  the  Christian  admiral  he 
called  San  Salvador,'  in  honor  of  the  Son ;  the  next, 
Santa  Maria  de  la  Concepcion,  did  reverence  to  the 
Mother. 

•  It  is  well-nigh  four  hundred  years  since  then,  but 
never  has  Mary  forgotten  nor  been  forgotten  here  ;  but 
her  servants  have  labored  to  extend  her  devotion  ;  the 
faithful  have  responded  with  eager  and  loving  hearts  ; 
her  powerful  jDrayers  have  aided  them  in  heaven ;  and 
now,  from  the  perpetual  Arctic  snows  to  the  mists  of 
Terra  del  Fuego,  ascriptions  of  honor  arise  to  the 
Mother  Immaculate. 

For  devotion  to  Mary  is  in  its  own  nature  a  neces- 
sarily growing  one,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  expression  of 
our  love  and  reverence  for  her ;  and  these  are  inevi- 
table, because  of  lier  nature,  immaculately  conceived 
as  it  was,  hngering  sixty  sinless  years  on  earth,  and 
now  glorified  and  triumphant  in  heaven. 


things  to  God.  Yet  such  was  the  spirit  of  Columbus.  His  prayer  on 
reaching  San  Salvador  is  preserved  by  Washington  Irving  : 

"  Domine  Deus,  seterne  et  omnipotens,  sacro  tuo  verbo  ccelum  et 
terram  et  mare  creasti;  benedicatur  et  glorificetur  Nomen  tuum, 
laudetur  tua  majestas  qiTse  dignita  est  per  humilem  servum  tuum  ut 
ejus  sacrum  Nomeu  agnoscatur  et  iDraedicetur  in  hac  altera  mundi 
parte." 

"  0  Lord,  eternal  and  omnipotent  God,  Thou  hast,  by  Thy  holy 
word,  created  the  heavens,  the  earth,  and  the  sea  ;  blessed  and  glori- 
fied be  Thy  Name  ;  praised  be  Thy  Majesty,  who  hast  deigned  that, 
by  means  of  Thy  unworthy  servant,  Thy  sacred  Name  should  be 
acknowledged  and  made  known  in  this  new  quarter  of  the  globe." — 
Irving :  Columbus,  i.  156. 

'  To  caU  a  land  after  the  Saviour  being  deemed  superstitious,  the 
English  conquerors  reverently  changed  it  to  Cat  Island. 


4  Detotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

Marj  is,  of  all  creatures,  except  tlie  sacred  Humanity 
of  lier  Lord  and  Son,  the  nearest  to  the  heart  of  God ; 
and  the  love  that  she  gives  us  is,  after  all,  God's  love, 
whereof  she  is  the  channel ;  and  God's  love,  in  His 
deahngs  with  us,  never  stands  still,  but  is  evermore  on 
the  increase  here,  as  it  will  be  through  the  rapturous 
ages  of  eternity.  But  God  gives  love  in  exchange  for 
love  ;  He  allow^s  us  with  our  own  coin,  poor  as  it  is,  to 
purchase  treasures  on  high,  and  so  our  love  necessa- 
rily increases  in  an  humble  kind  of  proportion  with 
His.  Then,  when  He  sends  us  so  much  favor  through 
Mary,  we  are  impelled  to  return  it  through  the  same 
blessed  channel ;  and  thus  devotion  to  her  grows  ever, 
and  shall  grow,  until  love  shall  be  placed  beyond  the 
reach  of  change  or  decay. 

So,  then,  Mary  has  gained  vast  possessions  in  this 
country.  One  day,  let  us  hope,  she  will  conquer  it  all, 
and  annex  it  all,  loyal  and  devoted,  to  the  kingdom  of 
her  Son.  There  are  pecuharities  in  her  conquests  and 
in  her  sacred  warfare  without  parallel  in  the  victories 
of  the  sword.  The  weapons  of  her  hosts  are  gentle- 
ness, and  mercy,  and  weariless  affection ;  self-sacrifice 
and  refusal  of  reward  on  earth  ;  and,  better  still,  when- 
ever a  soldier  falls,  fighting  bravely  in  the  front  rank 
for  her  honor,  his  death  only  strengthens  her  armies 
and  helps  to  insure  the  success  of  her  cause.  From 
the  soil  which  was  enriched  by  the  blood  of  the  mar- 
tyrs, spring  the  flowers  that  deck  her  altars  in  the 
month  of  May. 

With  the  successors  of  Columbus  came  the  cannon 


IN  NoplTh  America.  5 

and  the  sword :  but  there  came  also  the  Cross  and  the 
Eosarj.  There  came  kist  of  dominion,  of  lands,  of 
gold  ;  cruelty,  bloodshed,  and  the  vices  of  civilization. 
But  among  them,  and  unharmed  by  their  contact,  were 
seK-sacrifice,  devotion,  zeal  for  souls,  love  of  God  and 
of  man  only  for  God's  sake. 

They  that  took  the  sword  perished  by  the  sword, 
and  won  only  blood-stained  names  as  their  re- 
ward. But  the  warriors  of  Zion  and  of  Carmel 
won  souls  back  to  Heaven ;  and  if  they  died  in  the 
conflict,  their  blood  spake  louder  than  their  voices  had 
done. 

Ponce  de  Leon,  Yasquez  de  Ayllon,  Narvaez,  de 
Soto,  Alvarado,  Coronado,  with  all  the  power  of  their 
arms,  with  all  the  Sj)anish  and  Indian  gore  they  shed, 
only  gained  the  abhorrence  and  hatred  of  the  natives. 

But  Father  Mark,  the  Franciscan,  armed  onh^  with 
the  crucifix,  penetrated  New  Mexico,  in  1539,  and 
gained  the  Indians'  love.  Five  other  Franciscans  took 
the  same  path  in  1540  ;  and  two  of  them,  Father  John 
de  Padilla  and  Brother  John  of  the  Cross,  remained  in 
the  country,  and  taught  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  until 
they  were  slain  in  an  inroad  of  stranger  savages. 
Eodriguez,  Tio-pez,  Santa  Maria  followed  in  1580,  and 
confirmed  the  faith  in  New  Mexico,  from  which  it  has 
never  since  departed. 

But  earlier  than  this,  in  1544,  Andrew  de  Olmos  had 
sought  out  the  fierce  Texan  tribes,  and  had  converted 
many ;  and  in  1601,  the  Carmelite  Father,  Andrew  of 
the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin,  with  his  companions. 


6  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  IMiet 

had  entered  California,  and  celebrated  tlie  divine  mys- 
teries at  Monterey. 

Florida  was  first  baptized  in  the  blood  of  Louis 
Cancel,  the  Donainican.  As  he  stepped  fi'om  his  un- 
armed vessel,  alone,  and  knelt  down  upon  the  shore, 
he  was  slain  by  a  blow  from  a  war-club,  and  his  reek- 
ing scalp  was  shaken  in  derision  before  his  shuddering 
brethren  (1544.)  To  him  succeeded  many  others,  to 
labor  for  a  while  almost  in  vain,  and  then  to  die  be- 
neath the  tomahawk  or  by  the  aiTow.  The  Spaniards 
struggled  long  to  make  a  successful  settlement  at  Pen- 
sacola,  but  gave  it  up,  for  a  time,  in  1561.  And  when 
the  soldiers  had  departed,  there  lingered  on  the  shore, 
alone,  resolved  to  labor  on,  Father  Salazar  and  Brother 
Matthew  of  the  Mother  of  God. 

But  a  few  years  later,  on  the  feast  of  the  Nativity  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  St.  Augustine,  "  by  more  than  forty 
years  the  oldest  town  in  the  United  States,"  was 
founded,  and  so  soon  as  this  foothold  was  obtained, 
the  heroic  missionaries  poured  in.*  Jesuit,  Francis- 
can, Dominican,  thronged  in  generous  rivalry  to 
spread  the  gospel  of  the  Highest  throughout  the  new 


'  "  It  was  the  hour  of  vespers,  on  the  evening  preceding  the  Festi- 
val of  the  Nativity  of  Mary,  that  the  Spaniards  returned  to  the  harbor 
of  St.  Augustine.  At  noonday  of  the  festival  itself,  the  governor  -went 
on  shore,  to  take  possession  of  the  continent  in  the  name  of  his  king. 
The  solemn  Mass  of  Our  Lady  was  performed,  and  the  foundation  of 
St.  Augustine  was  immediately  laid.  It  is  by  more  than  forty  years 
the  oldest  town  in  the  United  States.  Houses  in  it  are  yet  standing 
which  are  said  to  have  been  built  many  years  before  Virginia  was 
colonized." — Bancroft:  History  of  the  United  States,  i.  69. 


IN  NoETH  AmEEICA.  7 

country.  They  pierced  the  thick  forests,  they  crossed 
the  mountain  ranges,  they  swam  the  broad  rivers  of 
the  South.  They  toiled  with  the  Natchez,  the  Creek, 
and  the  Cherokee ;  they  established  missions  in  Caro- 
lina and  Yirginia,  and  they  coasted  the  whole  Atlantic 
border  as  far  north  as  the  Chesapeake,  which  they 
called  St.  Mary's  Bay. 

They  were  martyred,  it  is  true,  by  the  Indians  ;  they 
died  in  the  wild  iorest  of  starvation  or  fatigue ;  but 
that  did  not  deter  others  from  following  in  their  steps ; 
and  the  first  Europeans  who  dwelt  peaceably  in  these 
lands  were  the  missionary  fathers,  who  claimed  them, 
not  for  any  earthly  power,  but  for  God  and  St.  Mary 
the  Virgin. 

It  is  true  that  they  were  soon  driven  from  Virginia 
and  the  Carohnas.  Shortly  after  the  discovery  of  Amer- 
ica, followed  the  discovery  of  that  system  of  rebellion 
popularly  known  as  the  Keformation.  The  only  distinc- 
tive mark  of  this  was,  and  is,  hatred  to  the  Church,  and 
whenever  its  adherents  had  the  power,  it  was  signal- 
ized by  the  destruction  of  religious  establishments. 
While  the  most  splendid  monuments  of  rehgion  and 
art  were  faUing  beneath  its  axes  in  Europe,  its  repre- 
sentatives in  the  New  World,  in  Carolina  and  Vii-ginia, 
banded  with  and  led  on  the  savages  to  the  sack  of  the 
humble  missions,  and  the  slaughter  of  the  devoted 
priests  who  served  them.' 


'  The  Christian  Indians  driven  out  with  the  missionaries  took  the 
name  of  Seminoles,  or  Wanderers.     Deprived  of  their  instructors,  they 


8  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

No  so-called  Protestant  powers  have  ever  made 
tlieir  way  to  any  new  or  pagan  country — India,  China, 
Japan,  or  America — without  finding  Catholic  mission- 
aries in  possession  before  them  ;  q^da  Domini  est  terra, 
"  the  earth  is  the  Lord's."  And  wherever  they  have 
been  strong  enough,  they  have  invariably  overthrown 
those  missions  and  re-established  paganism.  Nay,  in 
some  places  they  have  endowed  it ;  and  to-day  the  dis- 
torted.idols  for  India  are  manufactui'ed  by  the  ton  in 
the  cities  of  Christian  England. 

So  the  missions  on  St.  Mary's  Bay  and  in  the  Caro- 
linas  were  destroyed  by  the  combined  zeal  of  the  Re- 
former and  the  Yemassee ;  but  under  the  Catholic  flag 
of  Spain,  they  flourished  and  took  root  in  Alabama 
and  Florida ;  and  the  summer  sun  of  1693  shone  upon 
a  statue  of  the  Mother  of  God,  under  whose  patronage 
and  protection  they  were  founding,  and  successfully, 
Pensacola.' 

And  while  these  transactions  were  occurring  in  the 
south  and  southwest,  the  French  missionaries  were 
conquering  the  tribes  of  the  north.  From  Acadia  and 
the  St.  Lawrence  the  servants  of  Mary  spread  the  news 
of  salvation.  The  forests  of  Canada  rang  with  the 
Salve  Begina ;  from  the  bii'ch  canoes  that  cut  the  azure 
waters  of  the  great  lakes  swelled  up  the  Ave  3Iaris 
Stella.  On  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  Bressany  told 
his  beads  in  the  intervals  of  Iroquois  torture.     In  the 


gradually  relapsed  into  paganism. —  Vide  Sliea's  Catholic  Missions, 
p.  75. 

»  Shea :  History  of  the  United  States,  p.  40. 


IN  North  Ameeica.  9 

valley  of  the  Mohawk  streamed  the  blood  of  the  mar- 
tji-ed  Jogues,  and  whole  districts  of  New  York  Indians 
pubKcly  renounced  their  idolatries. 

Allouez  and  Dablon  evangelized  the  chill  shores  of 
Lake  Superior;  Marquette  bore  the  cross  down  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Arkan- 
sas, estabhshed  a  mission  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion among  the  Illinois,  and  laid  his  weary  frame  to 
rest  at  last  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan.  And  so 
the  Catholic  embrace  circled  North  America,  extending 
through  pain  and  privation,  through  toil  and  martyr- 
dom, until  the  Jesuit,  going  northward  from  Missouri, 
and  westward  from  Canada,  completed  the  sacred  cir- 
cle as  they  met  beneath  the  crests  of  the  Eocky 
Mountains. and  on  the  plains  of  Oregon. 

But  after  all,  this  was  but  Our  Lady's  discovery  of 
North  America,  as  it  were — was  but  a  planting  of  her 
standard  and  the  act  of  taking  possession.  The  battle 
was  still  to  be  fought,  the  hostile  tribes  were  to  be  sub- 
dued ;  re-enforcements  of  foes  from  lands  inimical  to 
her  cause  were  to  be  expected,  and  were  only  to  be 
met  by  re-enforcements  of  friends  from  lands  that 
loved  her. 

Her  conquests  resemble  those  of  the  world  in  this, 
that  if  they  are  to  succeed,  the  officers  must  be  skilful, 
fearless,  dihgent,  prudent,  imselfish,  and  prompt ;  the 
troops  must  be  steadfast,  obedient,  loyal,  and  constant. 
If  they  shall  appear  to  have  been  so,  we  will  under- 
stand how  her  honor  has  increased  in  the  land ;  how 
seven  hundred  churches  bear  her  Name,  out  of  three 

1* 


10  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary. 

tliousand  five  hundred  in  every  portion  of  the  country ; 
how  the  same  sweet  Name  is  given  to  river,  lake,  and 
mountain  peak  and  bay,  north,  south,  and  through  the 
centre ;  and  how  more  than  two  million  voices  chant 
her  praise,  and  proclaim  her  Lady  and  Protectress.' 

The  instruments,  then,  of  the  gracious  will  and  favor 
of  God  are  the  fidehty  of  His  ministers,  the  influx  of 
foreign  CathoHcs,  and  the  winning  character  of  the 
doctrines  and  devotions  of  the  Church. 

The  fidelity  of  the  minister  is  the  main  point,  since, 
without  this,  the  aborigine  would  retain  his  paganism, 
the  emigrant  lose  his  faith,  the  American  remain  un- 
converted. He  must  be  faithful  who  would  preach  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  and  so  extend  the  devotion  to  Mary, 
for  these  two  go  together.  The  Mother,  for  all  eter- 
nity, now  is  inseparable  from  her  Son.  When  He  took 
her  pure  flesh  upon  Him  in  time,  it  was  not  only  to 
suffer  in  it  here,  but  to  preserve  it  forever  in  heaven. 
She  whom  He  called  Mother  here.  He  calls  Mother 
there.  She  has  no  honor  but  His,  and  what  she  merits 
by  duty  faultlessly  performed  to  Him.  Whatever  goes 
towards  God's  glory  is  an  honor  to  Mary ;  whatever 
detracts  from  it  or  obstructs  it,  is  a  pain  to  Mary. 
She  has  nothing  of  her  own,  yet  she  has  all ;  for  she 
has  Him,  "  of  whom  and  by  whom  and  for  whom  are 
all" — propter  quern  omnia  et  per  quern  omnia.' 

'  Even  tliese  estimates  are  less  than  tlie  trutli.  They  are  made 
from  the  almanac  for  1861,  in  which,  for  some  dioceses,  the  names  oi 
churches  are  not  given  :  indeed,  whole  dioceses  have  no  report  at  all. 

'  Saint  Paul :  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  ii.  10. 


IN  North  America.  11 

It  is  her  Maternity  to  Him  that  explains — that  only 
can  explain — the  CathoHc  devotion  to  her.  It  is  be- 
cause she  has  Him  for  her  child  that  she  has  us  for  her 
reverers.  She  has  a  right  to  our  veneration,  because 
she  bare  Him  who  has  a  right  to  our  adoration.  It  is 
a  common  sentiment  of  our  nature  to  honor  every 
good  mother  for  the  sake  of  her  son  ;  it  is  a  sin,  then, 
against  our  regenerate  nature  to  refuse  honor  to  that 
best  Mother  of  the  best  Son.  And  so  it  comes  that 
His  ministers  are  her  ministers ;  that  fidehty  to  the 
gosj)el  of  Christ  is  fidelity  to  devotion  for  Mary. 

And  for  tliis  fidehty  must  her  minister  be  endowed 
w^ith  the  gifts  which  insure  it,  and  which  are  rendered 
necessary  by  the  circumstances  of  their  lives,  as  weU 
as  for  the  success  of  their  mission. 

They  must  be  prudent  as  serpents,  for  a  thousand 
snares  are  daily  laid  for  their  destruction.  Estofe  ergo 
prudentes  ut  serpenfes^ — yet  pnident  without  selfishness 
or  trick  ;  "  be  ye  simple  as  doves" — simplices  siciit  co- 
lumbce.  They  must  be  brave  in  their  innocence,  for 
"  I  send  you  forth  as  sheep  in  the  midst  of  wolves," 
mitto  vos  sicut  agnos  infer  Ivpos  /'  humble,  for  the  poor 
in  spirit  have  the  blessing — heati  pauperes  spirit u  ;^  yet 
in  all  their  personal  humihty  they  must  preserve  the 
highest  dignity  and  sacred  character  of  their  office, 
since,  "  as  My  Father  hath  sent  Me,  even  so  send  I  you" 
— sicut  misit  me  Fetter  et  ego  mitto  vos.*  Renunciation 
of  the  world,  and  separation  from  its  ties  and  it,  are 

'  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  s.  10.         '  St.  Matthew,  v.  3. 

'  St.  Luke,  X.  3.  *  St.  John's  Gospel,  xx.  21. 


12  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

necessary,  for  the  "cares  of  this  world  choke  the 
word,"  and  the  married  man  careth  for  the  things  of 
the  world,  how  he  may  please  his  wife,  oerumnce  sceculi 
suffocant  verbum,^  and  qui  cum  uxori  est  solicitus  est  mundi 
quomodo  lolaceat  uxorV 

The  ministers  of  God  and  Mary  must  find  no  obsta- 
cle in  disease,  privation,  or  poverty,  no  terror  in  death ; 
for  the  "  sujBferings  of  the  present  hfe  are  not  worthy 
to  be  compared  to  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed" — 
7ion  sunt  condignce  passiones  Jiujns  temporis  ad  futuram 
gloriam  qucE  revelahitur  in  nobis.^  He  must  be  persever- 
ing, for  only  "  to  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to 
eat  of  the  tree  of  Life  which  is  in  the  Paradise  of  my 
God" — Vhicenti  dabo  edere  de  ligno  vitce  qtiod  est  in  Pa- 
radiso  Dei  mei  /  and  he  must  be  ever  vigilant,  since 
only  that  servant  is  blessed  whom  his  Lord,  when  He 
Cometh,  shall  find  watching — Beati  servi  illi,  quos,  cum 
venerit  Dominus  invenerit  vigilantes.^ 

And  it  is  precisely  men  of  such  quahfications  whom 
it  has  pleased  God  to  send  out  for  the  evangelization 
of  America.  Had  they  been  endowed  with  less  than 
all  this,  the  English  conquest  of  North  America  would 
have  swept  the  devotion  to  Mary  from  the  land.  "Were 
they  not  so  endowed  to-day,  devotion  to  Mary  would 
perish  before  the  godlessness,  the  indifference  of  the 
world  around  us.  But  they  are  the  same  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  as  in  the  sixteenth  ;   they  may  differ 

*  St.  Mark,  xiv.  19.  *  Apocalypse,  ii.  7. 
"  1  Corinthians,  vii.  33.                           '  St.  Luke,  xii.  37. 

•  St.  Paul  to  the  Romans,  viii.  18 


IN  NOETH  AmEEICA.  ,  I'd 

externally  in  some  matters,  but  tlie  interior — the  in- 
tention, the  purpose — is  the  same,  as  is  the  divine 
commission  unci  ordination  which  gives  authority  to 
their  labors. 

Monseigneur  Verot  builds  a  church  to-day  on  the 
spot  where  Luis  Cancel  de  Barbastro  was  martyred 
three  hundred  years  ago.  Bishop  Lamy  renews  among 
the  Spaniards  and  Indians  in  1862  the  fervor  awakened 
in  1560  for  Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe.  Where  JogTies 
told  his  beads  as  a  preventive  for  martyrdom,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mohawk,  a  hundi'ed  voices  are  repeating 
the  same  prayers  ;  and  while  the  circle  of  Mary's  in- 
fluence has  been  widened,  till  its  bounds  are  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans,  and  its 
northern  limits  are  the  extreme  Ai'ctic  regions — while 
a  bishop  has  his  seat  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
Eiver,  and  another  in  far  Florida,  the  land  named  for 
Palm  Sunday,'  and  a  third  rules  in  the  almost  per- 
petual winter  of  Hudson's  Bay,  and  a  fourth  in.  the 
golden  land  of  California — the  intrepid  missionaries 
are  pushing  the  frontiers  still  fui'ther  northward  ;  and 
faithful  servants  of  Mary  have  filled,  and  are  still  fill- 
ing the  whole  interior  of  the  country  with  love  and 
reverence  for  her  name. 

While  the  old  missionary  orders,  Jesuit,  and  Sulpi- 
tian,  and  Franciscan,'  are  still  energetically  pursuing 

'  The  Spaniards  landing  on  Palm  Sunday,  which  they  call  Pascua 
Florida,  or  the  Flower  Easter,  gave  this-  name  to  the  new  land. 

■*  The  Kecollects,  an  order  of  reformed  Franciscans,  are  busied  in 
Canada. 


14  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mat.y 

their  sacred  conquests  iu  Oregon,  among  the  Esqui- 
maux and  the  tribes  of  British  America,  new  orders 
have  arisen  especially  devoted  and  dedicated  to  the 
Blessed  Yirgin,  as  the  Marists'  and  the  Oblates  of 
Mary  Immaculate.'* 

These  are  the  outposts  and  advanced  guards  of 
God's  army  in  North  America ;  while,  in  the  interior, 
the  secular  and  regular  clergy,  bishop  and  priest,  are 
in  the  heat  of  the  fight.  These  have,  perhaps,  even 
harder  work  than  the  missionary  to  the  pagan.  I  do 
not  say  this  in  a  spuit  of  comparison,  but  only  in  ex- 
pression of  a  feeling  which  I  possess,  in  common  with 
others,  and  which  is  this :  That  he  who  is  roammg 
through  the  grand  native  forests,  breasting  the  torrent 
in  a  birch  canoe,  setting  a  stout  heart  against  the  in- 
clemencies of  a  wild  nature,  has  the  poetry  and  ro- 
mance, the  adventure  and  ever-varying  incident  to 
insphit  and  excite  him. 

So  Bancroft,  after  a  tribute  to  the  zeal  of  the  mis- 
sionary, says :  "  And  yet  the  simplicity  and  the  free- 
dom of  life  in  the  wilderness  had  its  charms.  The 
heart  of  the  missionary  would  swell  with  delight,  as, 
under  a  serene  sfty,  and  with  a  mild  temperature,  and 
breathing  a  pure  air,  he  moved  over  waters  as  trans- 
parent as  the  most  limpid  fountain.  Every  encamp- 
ment offered  his  attendants  the  pleasures  of  the  chase. 


'  An  educational  order  founded  at  Bordeaux,  France,  in  1818. 

^  A  missionary  order  whose  superior-general  is  Mgr.  the  Bishop  of 
Marseilles,  and  who  axe  laboring  chiefly  in  British  America  and  in  the 
Bouthwestern  United  States. 


m  NoKTH  America.  15 

Like  a  patriarcli,  he  dwelt  beneath  a  tent ;  and  of  tho 
land  through  which  he  walked  he  was  its  master,  in 
the  length  of  it  and  in  the  breadth  of  it,  profiting  by 
its  productions  without  the  embarrassment  of  owner- 
ship. How  often  was  the  j)illow  of  stones  like  that 
where  Jacob  felt  the  presence  of  God !  How  often  did 
the  aged  oak,  whereof  the  centuries  were  untold,  seem 
like  the  tree  of  Mamre,  beneath  which  Abraham  broke 
bread  with  angels  !  Each  day  gave  the  pilgrim  a  new 
site  for  his  dwelling,  which  the  industry  of  a  few 
moments  could  erect,  and  for  which  nature  supplied  a 
floor  of  green,  inlaid  with  flowers.  On  every  side 
clustered  beauties  which  art  had  not  spoiled  and  could 
not  imitate." ' 

He  has  the  rough,  hearty  hfe  of  a  soldier,  and  the 
triumph  of  the  discoverer;  and  he  has  to  teach  the 
true  God  to  those  who  have  worshipped  demons.  But 
the  priests  in  the  midst  of  a  more  or  less  perfect  civiK- 
zation  have  not  this.  Their  fight  is  against  the  vices 
of  civilization,  very  unpoetic,  very  unromantic  ;  against 
the  love  of  money,  the  cheatery  of  trade,  the  permitted 
dishonor  and  dishonesty  of  the  world  ;  against  the  in- 
fluence of  the  drinking-shop  and  the  low  gambling- 
table  ;  against  the  serpent  of  liberahsm  and  godless- 
ness ;  against  the  temptations  of  impurity  and  false 
doctrine  ;  against  the  ever-changing  phases  of  sin  in 
individuals ;  against  dangers  which  confer  no  glory, 
and  poverty  which  is  not  picturesque.    They  are  in  the 

*  Bancroft :  History  of  the  United  States,  iii.  153. 


16  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

heart  of  the  army,  in  tlie  midst  of  the  ranks  ;  they  are 
the  unnoticed  fighters,  who  fall,  and  are  succeeded  by 
others  who  fall  in  tui'n ;  who  combat  all  their  Hves  to 
gain  one  foot  of  ground,  or,  perhaj)s,  only  not  to  lose 
one  foot ;  and  whose  record  is  only  on  the  page  of  the 
book  of  the  Great  King  on  high. 

For  them  the  steaming  walls  of  the  hospital  replace 
the  dark  green  arching  aisles  of  the  stately  immemorial 
wood.  For  them  the  rush  and  roar  of  the  hot  and  nar- 
row street  must  be  a  substitute  for  the  fresh,  free  leap 
of  the  wild  and  beautiful  river.  The  skulking  convict 
and  the  drunkard,  the  brazen  harlot  and  the  apostate 
Catholic,  must  be  their  dark-skinned  warrior  tribe. 
The  idols  they  must  shatter  are  the  human  passions  ; 
the  temples  they  must  renovate  are  human  hearts. 

It  is  in  this  view  that  I  have  ventured  to  call  their 
work  harder ;  not  in  itself,  but  in  its  circumstances : 
not  because  more  actual  labor  is  requu'ed  from  one 
than  another ;  but  because  of  the  lack  of  much  which 
can  stimulate  and  distract. 

And  this  brings  me  to  a  point  which  must  be  care- 
fully noticed  by  the  reader.  I  mean  the  difference  be- 
tween the  rise  of  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Mother  of 
God  in  this  country  and  in  the  old  Cathohc  lands,  and 
the  consequent  difference  between  the  respective  ex- 
ternal manifestations  of  it. 

When  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  Mary  issued  from 
Palestine  and  spread  over  Europe,  it  was  for  the 
dethronement  of  false  deities  among  comparatively 
simple    men ;    for   ci\T.hzation    then    was    exclusively 


IN  North  America.  17 

Koman,  save  liere  and  there  a  little  colony.  Men  re- 
ceived the  faith,  sooner  or  later,  in  simj^le,  earnest 
hearts.  Faith  retained  for  many,  many  centuries  a 
straightforwardness  and  unnhesitating  ojDenness  which 
has  begun  to  decay  only  withm  the  last  three  hundred 
years.  For  the  general  diffusion  of  a  too  thin  and  in- 
nutritive  knowledge  has  unquestionably  injured  the 
simphcity  of  faith,  by  increasing,  not  our  wisdom,  but 
our  conceit  that  we  are  wise. 

Men  have  been  taught  by  this  to  replace  Faith  with 
those  niggardliest  of  qualities,  suspicion  and  doubt. 
State  any  manifestation  of  God's  love  to  man,  any  in- 
dividual and  distinct  mark  of  His  favor  or  providence, 
and  for  one  that  will  say  Blessed  be  His  Name  for 
that,  a  hundred  will  doubt  it,  will  furnish  a  score  of 
mean  reasons  against  its  probability,  will  suspect  a 
score  of  honorable  men  of  collusion,  invention,  and 
deceit. 

Pantheism — if  I  may  use  that  word  for  want  of  a 
better  to  express  the  generalization  and  depersonaUza- 
tion  of  God — was  not  universally  spread  as  it  is  now. 
If  it  existed,  it  was  in  some  head  which  "  too  much 
learning  had  made  mad"— some  mind  gone  astray 
through  over-esteem  of  its  own  reasoning  faculties; 
and  was  generally  confined  to  a  university  chamber. 

Then  men  believed  in  a  personal  God,  to  whom  they 
were  personally  accountable ;  they  loved  to  receive  His 
gifts  and  benefits  as  personal  ones  ;  they  knew  nothing 
of  these  fine,  new,  universal  humanities  and  confeder- 
acies of  God ;  but  He  was  my  Father  and  my  God  as 

B 


18  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

well  as  our  Father  and  our  God.  Tliey  got  closer  to 
Him  by  this  individualizing,  which  was  yet  in  no  sense 
exclusive.  A  man  received  a  benefit,  not  as  a  general, 
imiversal  gift — of  the  gratitude  for  which  his  own  share 
was  so  small  that  God  would  not  miss  it  if  it  were 
never  paid — but  as  a  benefit  done  to  him,  for  which  all 
his  gratitude  was  too  little. 

And  so  they  had  personal  dealings  with  God ;  and 
when  he  said  to  the  beloved  disciple — speaking  from 
the  cloud  of  agony  which  overhung  the  Cross — "  Son, 
behold  thy  mother !"  they  saw  in  that  divinest  boon  a 
mother  for  all  and  each  of  them ;  a  mother  equally 
loving  and  tender  to  each  of  her  children  ;  procuring 
benefits  for  each  from  her  Divine  Son,  and,  therefore, 
naturally  carrying  back  to  Him  the  thanks  of  each  for 
such  benefits. 

Well,  then,  in  a  little  time,  human  thanks  to  God 
ran  generally  through  Mary's  heart  and  hps  as  their 
channel,  the  channel  naturally  the  most  agreeable  to 
Him ;  and  so  her  name  got  to  be  embroidered  on  the 
bright  mantle  of  the  European  world  as  its  chiefest 
decoration.  They  went  to  fight,  and  begged  her  pro- 
tection; they  came  back  successful,  and  they  built 
Notre  Dame  des  Vidoires.  They  were  perishing  by  an 
epidemic,  and  made  a  novena  to  her,  and  she  heard 
them,  and  their  Cathedral  is  dedicated  to  Our  Lady  of 
Help  in  need,  Notre  Dame  de  bon  secours. 

Travellers  lighted  on  land  after  storms,  hke  the 
grand,  heroic  Columbus,  and  because  in  their  trouble 
they  had  begged  help  from  the  gentle  Mother,  and 


IN  North  America.  19 

thonght  that  she  had  heard  them,  they  called  the  new 
land  by  her  name.  A  city  escapes  some  general  deso- 
lation ;  they  change  its  name  for  some  title  of  hers.  A 
poor,  pious  man,  attacked  by  highwaymen,  converts 
one  by  his  gentle  discourse ;  the  place  is  called  St. 
Mary  of  KoJbbers,  and  some  nineteenth-century  liter- 
ary skirmisher  will  inform  you  that  the  Blessed  Virgin 
was  the  patroness  of  thieves  in  this  neighborhood. 

In  this  way  Europe  became  covered  with  mementoes 
of  benefits  received  by  Mary's  intercession,  and,  by 
inevitable  naturalness,  they  bear  her  name ;  and,  in 
those  days,  remembering  some  kindness  done  by  her 
to  some  particular  town,  and  standing  in  need  of  the 
same  kindness  for  himself,  a  man  would  pray  to  our 
Lady  of  Eehbourg,  St.  Mary  of  Challons,  the  Immacu- 
late Virgin  of  Liege.  From  which  cii'cumstance  cer- 
tain flatulent  writers  have  deduced  that  those  Catholics 
thought  there  were  many  Blessed  Virgins,  and  that 
each  hved  in  her  own  special  village.^ 

Hence,  the  History,  of  the  Devotion  to  the  Blessed 

'  Even  sucli  as  Walter  Scott  and  Washington  Irving  commit  blvm- 
ders  whicli  are  incomprehensible  to  men  whose  education  is  far  in- 
ferior to  that  of  those  masters.  Catholics  going  to  Mass  at  all  hours  of 
the  afternoon  and  evening,  confessing  to  and  receiving  absolution  from 
laymen,  and  men,  vromen,  and  children  in  general  using  breviaries 
and  missals.  A  veell-educated  author,  a  Protestant,  is  required  to 
know  the  meaning  of  the  Ramadan,  the  Mishna,  the  Norwegian 
Sagas,  Joe  Smith  the  Mormon,  the  Yezidees,  the  Fetish,  but  is  allowed 
to  blunder  like  an  idiot  about  Mass,  Vespers,  and  Rosary,  the  Iiighest 
and  most  frequent  acts  of  worship  of  two  hundred  millions  of  Chri& 
tian  men,  half  of  whom  are  of  the  leading  races  of  civilization  in 
France,  Spain,  North  America,  Germany,  Italy,  and  Great  Britain  1 


20  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maet 

Virgin  in  Europe  is  simply  a  ramble  tlirongh  the 
Beautiful.  There  is  no  hamlet,  no  burgh,  nor  city 
without  its  consecration,  partial  or  entire,  to  the  dear 
Mother  of  God,  and  for  His  sake  ours.  Europe  is 
flooded  with  fact,  and  legend,  and  circumstance ;  and 
he  who  writes  of  the  devotion  there  finds  difficulty, 
not  in  discovering  material,  but  in  deciding  amid  the 
masses  that  lie  before  him  what  he  will  accept  and 
what  refuse. 

But  with  us,  the  national  antiquities,  so  to  speak,  of 
the  Cathohc  Faith  must  be  looked  for  only  on  our 
borders.  The  poetry  of  evangehzation  meets  only  the 
Indian  missionary,  the  tradition  of  the  Spaniard  in  the 
South,  of  the  Frenchman  in  the  North.  I  mean,  of 
course,  the  published  poetry ;  for  the  hidden,  intrinsic 
beauties  of  our  faith  and  our  devotion  are  imperishable 
and  invariable.  We  live,  comparatively  few  in  number, 
in  a  land  which,  if  not  Protestant,  is,  at  least,  anti- 
Cathohc.  No  sacred  processions,  with  vested  clerics 
at  their  head,  sweep  through  our  streets ;  no  train  of 
pilgrims  winds  along  the  river-bank,  or  through  the 
greenwood,  to  a  favored  Lady  Chapel ;  no  sweet  face 
of  dear  Mary  Mother  smiles  at  us  as  we  pass  from 
wayside  shrine  ;  there  is  no  halt  of  business,'  and  gen- 

*  These  statements  are  to  be  taken  generally,  and  parti  cularlv  only 
of  the  United  States.  French  Canada,  of  course,  retains,  with  the 
ancient  faith,  many  of  its  external  practices.  The  colonies  of  Catholic 
Highlanders  in  the  extreme  north  can  do  as  they  please.  Louisiana, 
New  Mexico,  and  part  of  California,  are  still  Catholic ;  but  where  our 
great  populations  and  our  largest  wealth  and  influence  are,  these 
words  are  true. 


IN  NOKTH  AmEKICA.  21 

eral  baring  of  the  head  for  a  moment's  communion 
with  God,  when  the  Angelus  rings  out  fi'om  the  steeple. 
A  few  traditional  observances  may  linger  in  portions 
of  the  United  States  where  the  Spanish  or  French  in- 
fluence has  remained  unaltered;  but  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land  is  bitterly  hostile  to  any  out- 
ward manifestation  of  our  love  for  Mary,  because  bit- 
terly hostile  to  that  love  itself. 

Pulpit  and  lecture-room,  rostrum,  pubHc  meeting, 
and  corner-stone  layings,  the  press  and  the  bar-room, 
re-echo  with  charges  of  idolatrjp^  of  taking  from  God 
the  honor  which  is  His  due  only,  and  giving  it  to  a 
creature  ;  and  even  the  gentlest  will  shake  their  heads 
and  bewail  with  grave  charity  the  unfortunate  propen- 
sity of  the  Papist  to  give  too  much  honor  to  Mary. 

And  yet  what  is  our  feeble  love  and  honor  comjDared 
to  that  which  she  obtains  from  God  ?  As  our  love  for 
our  fellows  is  but  a  shadow  of  His  love  for  man,  so 
our  especial  love  for  Mary  is  but  a  shadow— a  faint, 
attenuated  shadow— of  His  love  for  her.  The  Eternal 
Father  hath  chosen  her  to  be  the  Mother  of  His  only 
Son;  the  Holy  Spirit  elected  her  His  spouse.  The 
Son  who  giveth  right-hand  thrones  to  the  apostles  who 
preached  His  word,  is  bound  in  justice  to  do  more  for 
the  Mother  who  bore  Him.  For  His  sake,  if  you 
would  please  Him,  reverence  her;  if  you  beheve  in 
honoring  your  own  mother,  believe  that  He  believes  in 
honoring  His.  It  is  impossible  for  the  Christian 
adorer  of  the  Incarnate  God  to  give  His  blessed 
Mother  more  honor,  interior  or  exterior,  than  is  her 


22  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

due.  Sancta  et  immacuhta  Vii'ginitas,  quihus  te  laudibus 
efferam  nescio  ;  quia  qnem  coeli  caper e  non  poterant,  tuo 
gremio  contulistV 

So,  then,  when  we  consider  how  strong  this  feeling 
against  devotion  to  Mary  is ;  how  powerful  the  influ- 
ence of  the  majority  is,  especially  when  that  majority 
possesses  the  wealth  and  influence  of  the  land ;  how 
many  temptations  surround  the  Catholic  here ;  how 
hard  it  is  to  bear  slight,  misrepresentation,  and  wiKul 
falsehood ;  how  much  easier  it  is  to  deny  having  a  del- 
icate and  beloved  sentiment  the  rather  than  to  expose 
it  to  the  risk  of  a  sneer;  how  swift  the  pace  of  the 
money-hunter  is  here ;  how  little  the  beautiful  in  life 
and  creed  is  cultivated,  and  how  devoted  are  men  to 
what  they  are  pleased  to  call  the  practical,  and  which 
means  simply  more  careful  diligence  for  the  body  than 
for  the  soul,  for  time  than  for  eternity ; — when  we  con- 
sider all  these,  the  wonder  is,  not  that  there  is  so  much 
or  so  little  devotion  to  Our  Lady,  but  that  there  is  any 
at  all. 

Yet  in  despite  of  all  this,  we  are  prepared  to  believe 
that  there  is  no  old  Catholic  coimtry  in  Europe ;  that 
there  never  has  been  a  country  in  which  reverent  love 
and  earnest  heartfelt  devotion  for  the  Blessed  Mother 
of  God  was  more  deeply  rooted,  more  ardently  cher- 
ished, or  more  fervently  and  fruitfuUy  practised  than 
this  same  North  America.     It  is  unobtrusive,  but  it  is 

1  Response  in  oflBce  of  B.  V.  M.  Holy  and  immaculate  Virginity  ! 
with  what  praises-  to  greet  thee  I  know  not ;  for  Him  whom  the 
heavens  cannot  contain,  thou  hast  borne  in  thy  bosom. 


IN  North  America.  23 

real.  It  guides  and  influences  the  hearts  of  men,  and 
it  is  found,  pure  and  glowing,  in  the  souls  of  some  who 
seem  to  be  the  most  thoughtless  in  society,  of  some  who 
seem  to  be  the  driest  and  most  engrossed  by  affairs. 

It  begins  in  earliest  childhood,  when  the  scapular 
and  the  medal  are  placed  round  the  neck,  to  be  kept 
there  ever  afterwards,  even  in  the  gi-ave.  As  the  child 
grows,  he  is  won  into  membership  of  some  Sodality  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  some  Eosary  Society,  some  Confra- 
ternity of  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary.  The  elders 
form  their  benevolent  associations,  and  place  them  un- 
der the  patronage  of  the  Queen  of  Angels.  Nuns  of 
Notre  Dame  and  of  the  Visitation  train  the  female 
children.  Brothers  of  Mary  are  consecrated  to  the 
education  of  boys.  The  Bishop  labors  patiently  till 
his  seminary  of  St.  Mary  is  completed ;  the  priest  toils 
arduously  until  his  parish  of  the  Annunciation  or  the 
Assumption  is  established ;  and  all  join  their  prayers, 
their  counsel,  their  money,  their  manual  labor,  their 
self-denial  and  renunciation,  until  the  Cross  peeps 
through  the  greenwood  from  the  convent  of  Mary's 
Help,  and  the  Church  of  the  Immaculata  crowns  the 
summit  of  the  hill. 

"We  close  this  chapter,  then,  with  a  short  view  of  the 
means  whereby  this  devotion  has  entered  and  in- 
creased in  this  country,  before  examining  its  progress 
and  effects  more  particularly. 

And  first,  the  Spaniard  brought  it  in  his  heart  as 
his  best  treasure  for  a  new  life,  his  best  memento  of 
his  own  old  fervent  land.     He  planted  it  in  the  ever- 


24  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Makt 

glades  of  Florida,  on  tlie  coasts  of  Alabama ;  or  bore 
it  with  patient  perseverance  into  Mexico,  California, 
Texas,  and  even  Oregon.  In  the  various  changes 
which  this  country  has  undergone  of  pohtical  rule  and 
advancing  civilization,  the  Iberian  was  driven  from  the 
East,  and  made  powerless  in  the  "West,  and  his  faith 
grew  lazy,  and  in  some  places  almost  disappeared. 
But  religious  freedom  fought  its  way  here  into  general 
acceptation,  and  now  the  love  of  Mary  is  reappearing, 
fresh  and  beautiful,  as  the  resurrection  of  the  flowers 
when  the  winter  has  passed  away. 

Then  the  Frenchman,  above  all,  the  loyal  and  pious 
Breton,  settled  Acadia.' 

"  Wlien,  in  tLe  tranquil  evenings  of  summer,  when  brightly  the  sun- 
set 
Lighted  the  village  street,  and  gilded  the  vanes  on  the  chimneys, 
Matrons  and  maidens  sat  in  snow-white  caps  and  in  kirtles. 
********** 
Solemnly  down  the  street  came  the  parish  priest,  and  the  children 
Paused  in  their  play  to  kiss  the  hand  he  extended  to  bless  them. 
Keverend  walked  he  among  them,  and  up  rose  matrons  and  maidens, 
Hailing  his  slow  approach  with  words  of  affectionate  welcome. 
Then  came  the  laborers  home  from  the  field,  and  serenely  the  sun 

sank 
Down  to  his  rest,  and  twilight  prevailed.    Anon  from  the  belfry 
Slowly  the  Angelus  sounded,  and  over  the  roofs  of  the  village 
Columns  of  pale-blue  smoke,  like  clouds  of  incense  ascending, 
Hose  from  a  hrmdred  hearths,  the  homes  of  peace  and  contentment. 
Thus  dwelt  together  in  love  these  simple  Acadian  farmers — 
Dwelt  in  the  love  of  God  and  man." ' 

And  thence  they  were  driven  by  the  Enghsh,  under 

1  The  Acadia  of  the  French  settlers  embraced  Maine,  New  Bruns- 
wick, and  Nova  Scotia. 

a  Longfellow's  "Evangeline." 


IN  North  America.  25 

circumstances  of  barbaric  cruelty  wliicli  wrung  from 
the  very  heart  of  a  Protestant  the  finest  poem  yet 
written  in  America,  and  one  of  the  finest  poems  of 
home  and  domestic  affection  extant  in  anv  lanoTiasre. 
But  the  good  seed  had  been  blown  abroad  by  those 
brave  northern  winds,  and  the  love  and  the  name  of 
Mary  had  been  carried,  through  the  wild  red  tribes,  to 
the  shores  of  Lake  Sujjerior,  and  missionaries  were 
abeady  sighing  for  permission  to  bear  it  to  the  far  and 
yet  unknown  Mississippi,*  And  when,  in  1673,  Father 
Marquette  discovered  and  explored  that  river,  the 
name  that  he  gave  it  was  "  Immaculate  Conception." 

The  Frenchman,  descending  the  Mississippi,  met 
the  Spaniards  coming  up  fi'om  Mexico,  through  New 
Mexico,  Texas,  Arizona,  and  Arkansas.  And  yet, 
although  it  was  the  forces  of  Great  Britain  which  ex- 
terminated the  missions  of  CaroKna,  and  half  de- 
stroyed those  of  Acadia  and  Canada,  it  was  reserved 
for  that  empire  to  send  forth  a  colony  which  should 
make  the  central  line  Cathohc,  and  give  the  name  of 
Mary  to  the  State  they  founded. 

With  these  three  points  starts  the  History  of  the 
CathoHc  Church,  and,  consequently,  of  the  devotion  to 
the  Blessed  Mother  of  God  in  North  America.  "What 
missionizing  was   done    went    either  westward  from 


>  Bancroft,  ii.  Thus  did  the  religious  zeal  of  the  French  bear  the 
Cross  to  the  banks  of  the  St.  Mary  and  the  confines  of  Lake  Superior, 
and  look  wistfully  towards  the  home  of  the  Sioux,  in  the  valley  of  the 
]Mississippi,  five  years  before  the  New  England  EUiot  had  addressed 
the  tribe  of  Indians  that  dwelt  within  six  miles  of  Boston  harbor. 

2 


26  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

Maryland  or  southward  from  Canada,  tlie  Jesuits  and 
Recollects  reaching  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  rivers 
and  the  State  of  Illinois.  But  little,  however,  was 
accompUshed  until  after  the  Revolution,  in  the  interior 
of  the  States  east  of  the  Mississippi.  West  of  that 
great  river,  the  whites  were  few  or  none. 

But  the  emigration  began.  More  French  came  into 
the  central  States  on  the  Atlantic,  and  their  religion 
was  respected  for  the  sake  of  their  ser\ices  to  the 
country,  if  for  nothing  else.  The  Irishman  came,  bear- 
ing from  the  shores  of  his  seagu't  isle  the  faith  which 
had  withstood  centuries  of  persecution,  and  such  a 
persecution  as  is  a  phenomenon  in  history,  having  no 
parallel  in  the  annals  of  man's  injustice  to  man.  Van- 
quished, enslaved,  starved,  tempted,  they  clung  to  God 
and  St.  Mary  the  Virgin  only  more  closely  for  aU  at- 
tempts to  sever  them. 

Crushed  down  by  that  preposterous  incubus  called 
the  National  Church,  they  remained  and  still  remain 
devotedly  faithful  to  the  ancient  creed.  I  do  not  speak 
of  the  priest-hunting  and  sanguinary  portions  of  the 
persecutions,  for  that  violence  rather  fans  the  flame  of 
loyalty  ;  but  of  that  dead,  stupid,  crushing  load,  which, 
pressing  as  it  did  on  their  very  lives  and  souls,  needed 
a  miracle  of  grace  to  enable  them  to  resist  it  as  they 
have  done. 

And  when,  commending  themselves  to  that  dear 
Mother  in  heaven,  who  had  been  their  support  and 
consolation,  they  bade  adieu  to  their  home,  they 
brought  to  the  land  of  their  adoption  the  same  un- 


IN  North  America.  27 

shaken  fidelity  to  their  reKgion.  They  spread,  like 
bee-swarms,  over  the  land ;  their  strong  arms  hewed 
wide  pathways  through  the  forest,  and  cut  the  canals 
which  were  the  life-veins  leading  to  the  country's 
heart ;  their  hands  laid  the  long,  interminable  lines  of 
railway  with  which  the  map  is  covered  as  by  a  spider's 
web ;  and  wherever  they  went  they  called  to  them 
Saggart  aroon,  the  priest  of  their  love ;  and  when  he 
came,  the  new  httle  church  of  St.  Mary  soon  rose, 
and  the  ancient  Salve  Eegina  resounded  beneath  the 
heavens  in  a  new  land. 

Then  from  the  Ehine  came  their  brethren,  from  that 
"long  street  of  cassocks,"  as  Charles  the  Fifth  was 
wont  to  call  it,  where  pilgrims  are  seen  daily  seeking 
shrines  of  Our  Lady ;  where  the  mUe-stones  by  the 
road  are  wayside  niches  for  her  image ;  where  her 
name  is  the  most  beloved  of  household  words ;  where, 
a  hundred  poets  chant  her  praises  ;  where  the  great 
schools  of  modern  art  love  to  reproduce  her  pure,  ma- 
ternal face  ;  and  where  the  very  Protestant  has  not 
learned  to  speak  of  her  with  disrespect,  nor  utterly  to 
empty  his  heart  of  all  love  for  her. 

These  came  to  take  up  a  thousand  minor  necessary 
industries  which  were  too  slow  for  the  swift,  rushing 
x4.merican ;  to  occupy  small  farms  throughout  the  in- 
terior ;  to  teach  the  vineyard  how  to  bloom  upon  the 
hni-side.  And  they,  too,  brought  a  store  of  devotion  to 
Mary,  unobtrusive,  little  noticed,  but  fixed,  steadfast, 
patient,  and  indestructible  as  their  own  quiet  character. 
These  parishes  are  generallv  the  lare^est  in  America  • 


28  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y,  Mary 

tliey  retain  tlie  pleasant  customs  of  their  fatherland ; 
they  call  their  settlements  Mariastein,  Mariahilf,  and 
they  transmit  to  their  children  their  own  trust  in  and 
affection  for  die  heilige  Mutter  Gottes. 

Thus,  then,  from  North,  South,  and  East,  have  the 
armies  of  blessed  Mary  marched  into  the  land.  Since 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1530,  they  have  advanced,  at  first 
slowly,  and  then  with  rapid  strides.  For  not  only  do 
the  foreign  populations  retain  and  transmit  their  ven- 
eration for  her,  but  countless  conversions  are  made 
from  heresy,  or  from  the  godlessness  which  is  more 
prevalent  and  dangerous  than  it.  And  how  many  of 
these  have  been  caused  through  affection  for  the  ma- 
ternity of  Mary,  or  by  her  direct  interposition  ?  Some 
have  been  brought  into  the  true  fold  by  reading  for 
the  first  time  the  story  of  the  Church's  love  for  her ; 
some  by  wearing  her  medal ;  some  by  invoking  her  in 
time  of  need — "  O  holy  Mary,  conceived'  without  sin, 
pray  for  us  sinners  who  have  recourse  to  thee !"  and 
some  by  observing  the  devotion  of  Cathohc  friends  to 
her,  and  the  beautiful  charities,  the  gentleness,  and  un- 
selfishness which  are  apt  to  spring  from  that. 

What  wonder,  then,  that  in  her  own  sweet  month 
of  May,  the  Fathers  of  the  CouncU  of  1846  held  in 
Baltimore — twenty-two  bishops,  with  their  theologi- 
ans— should  solemnly  elect  as  Patroness  of  the  United 
States  of  America  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  immacu- 
lately conceived?  The  Fathers  had  been  trained  in 
her  honor,  they  had  lived  for  her  service,  they  desired 
to  add  this  crowning  glory  to  their  life-long  prayer 


IN  NoKTH  Ajiekica.  29 

and  praise,  and  at  the  same  time  to  show  their  zeal 
for  the  true  interests  of  this  country,  by  entreating 
her  protection  for  it  in  this  eminent  and  pubHc  way. 
The  next  year  this  election  was  confirmed  by  the 
sovereign  Pontiff,'  and  now  forever  in  the  grand  pub- 
he  session  that  closes  these  august  assembhes,  after 
the  Te  Deum  has  been  sung,  the  cantors,  richly  coped, 
stand  before  the  altar  and  intone  their  first  acclama- 
tion to  the  Most  High  God.  That  chorused,  they 
burst  forth — 

"  Beatissimse  Virgini  Mariae,  sine  labe  originah  con- 
cej)t8e,  harum  Provinciarum  Patronae,  honor  aeternus!" 

And  in  chorus  the  .venerable  bishops,  the  theologi- 
ans and  attendant  priests,  and  the  whole  multitude 
of  people,  repeat  the  glad  ascription,  and  then,  swell- 
ing to  vaulted  roof,  and  filling  aisle  and  nave  and 
broad  cathedral  sanctuary,  rolls  in  deej),  majestic 
chorus  the  solemn  Amen !  Amen ! 


1  Decretum  : 

Cum  R.  P.  D.  Arcliiepiscopus  Baltimorensis  ej usque  Suflfraganei 
Episcopi  Conciliiim  Sextum  Provinciale  mense  Maio  anno  1846 
celebrantes,  supplices  petiissent  ut  a  S.  Sede  approbaretur  electio 
quam  ipsi  in  Concilio  fecerunt  Bmae.  Mariae  Virginis  sine  labe  origi- 
nali  conceptae  in  Patronam  Septentrionalis  Americae  Foederatae  Pro- 
vinciarum ;  *  *  *  Emi.  ac  Revmi.  Patres  in  congregatione  general! 
de  propaganda  Fide  censuerunt  supplicandum  Ssmo.  Dno  nostro  ut 
pientissimis  Concilii  votis  annuere  dignentur. 

Hanc  vero  S.  Cong,  sententiam  in  audientia  die  7  Februarii  1847 
habita  Ssmus  Dns  noster  Pius  divina  providentia  PP.  IX.  benigne 
probavit  in  omnibus. 


30  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 


CHAPTEE  II. 

The  Zeal  of  the  Pioiteees — Champlain  and  the  Eecollects — Motheb 
Mart  of  the  Incarnation  and  the  Desulines — Marquette  and  the 
Immaculate  Conception. 

The  secret  of  the  devotion  to  Mary  is  a  heart-felt 
zeal  for  the  glory  of  God.  It  was  a  higher  motive 
than  any  worldly  one  that  brought  Columbus  to  San 
Salvador  and  Concepcion,  or  Champlain  to  the  snows 
and  forests  of  the  North. 

"The  salvation  of  a  single  soul,"  says  this  pious 
gentleman,  "is  worth  more  than  the  conquest  of  an 
empire,  and  kings  should  seek  to  extend  their  domin- 
ions in  countries  where  idolatry  reigns,  only  to  cause 
their  submission  to  Jesus  Christ." '  He  undertook  his 
toils  and  labors  with  patience,  in  order  "  to  plant  in 
this  country  the  standard  of  the  Cross,  and  to  teach 
the  knowledge  of  God  and  the  glory  of  His  Holy 
Name,  desiring  to  increase  charity  for  His  unfortunate 
creatures."  '^ 

Thinking  that  he  would  "  commit  a  great  fault  if  he 
employed  no  means  of  bringing  the  savages  to  the 


'  The  first  words  of  tlie  Sieur  de  Champlain's  voyages. 

^  Planter  en  ce  pays  I'estendart  de  la  Croix  et  leur  enseigner  la 
cognoissance  de  Dieu  et  gloire  de  Son  Sainct  Nom,  estant  nostre  desir 
d'augmenter  la  charite  envers  ses  miserables  creatures. —  Voyages  et 
decouvertures  depuis  1615. 


IN  NoKTH  America.  31 

knowledge  of  God,"  lie  earnestly  "  sought  out  some 
good  Religious  who  would  have  zeal  and  affection  for 
God's  glory."  Such  as  these  are  always  discoverable 
by  those  who  are  really  in  want  of  them,  and  Cham- 
plain  soon  found  them — men  "  who  were  borne  away 
by  holy  affection,  who  burned  to  make  this  voyage,  if 
so,  by  God's  grace,  they  might  gain  some  fruit,  and 
might  plant  in  these  lands  the  standard  of  Jesus 
Christ,  with  fixed  resolution  to  live,  and,  if  need  were, 
to  die,  for  His  sacred  Name  !"  *  So,  when  the  ship  is 
ready,  we  naturally  exx3ect  the  next  record,  that  "each 
of  us  examined  himself  and  purged  himself  of  his  sins 
by  penitence  and  confession,  so  best  to  say  adieu  to 
France  and  to  place  himself  in  a  state  of  grace,  that 
each  might  be  conscientiously  fi"ee  to  give  himself  up 
into  the  keeping  of  God  and  to  the  billows  of  a  vast 
and  perilous  sea."* 

When  the  voyage  is  thus  undertaken,  what  wonder 
that  we  find,  along  the  first  discovered  coasts,  St. 
Mary's  Bay,  St.  Mary's  Isle,  St.  Mary's  Eiver ;  that 
Montreal  is  first  called  Ville  3Iarie ;  that  the  first 
grant  of  land  from  the  Due  de  Yentadour  to  the 
Jesuits  is  the  lordship  or  seigneurie  of  Our  Lady  of 
Angels,  and  that  then,  by  Mary's  lake  and  missions  of 
Assumption  and  Annunciation,  we  sweep  away  west- 
ward to  the  mysterious  river  of  the  Conception  ? 

And  so  the  portal  of  the  Occident  being  thrown 
open,   and  the  highways  baptized  by  the  name  of 

'  Voyages  depuis  1615,  p.  3.  '  Ibid.,  p.  8. 


32  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

Mary,  lier  servants  enter  in.     How  tliey  labored,  a 
sketcli  of  one  or  tv/o  of  tliem  will  suffice  to  show. 

Mother  Mary  or  the  Incarnation. 

In  the  convent  grounds  of  the  Ursulines,  at  Quebec, 
stood  lately  an  old  ash-tree.  More  than  two  hundred 
years  ago,  under  its  shadowy  foHage,  one  might  have 
seen  a  crowd  of  swarthy  Indian  girls,  Algonquins,  Iro- 
quois, Abnakis,  but  most  of  all,  Hurons.  Their  voices 
sounded  with  natural  sweetness  in  prayer,  as  their 
dusky  fingers  told  their  beads,  or  mingled  in  the  Salve 
Regina  or  Ave  Ilaris  Stella,  and  their  eyes  were  closed 
in  meditation  or  lifted  up  with  love  upon  the  figure  of 
the  crucified  Redeemer  or  the  image  of  Our  Lady,  or 
fixed  reverently  and  attentively  upon  the  calm,  afi'ec- 
tionate  face  of  their  instructress.  And  she,  with  the 
holy  wisdom  and  patient  sweetness  which  are  the  gifts 
of  saints,  taught  them  the  love  of  God,  winning  them 
one  by  one,  and  through  them  their  famihes,  from 
their  pagan  superstitions  and  their  wretched  life,  to 
the  love  and  service  of  that  dear  Lord  and  His 
Mother,  to  whom  she  had  totally  given  up  her  body 
and  her  soul. 

Far  away  in  central  France  she  had  left  a  gay  and 
comfortable  world,  the  society  of  the  noble,  the  ease  of 
wealth,  for  the  white  bandeau  and  dark  veil  and  habit 
of  the  Ursuline ;  and,  in  the  year  of  our  redemption 
1639,  she  completed  her  renunciation  of  all  things  by 
forsaking  her  sunny  native  land  forever  for  the  ice- 
bound shores,  the  privations,  the  perpetual  toils  of 


IN  NOETH  AjffiEEICA.  33 

Canada.  Her  verj  name  was  left  beliind  lier  in  the 
world  she  had  forsaken  ;  the  lady  of  the  French  salons 
had  been  called  Madame  Sophie  Gaynet ;  the  Ursulme 
beneath  the  ash-tree  in  Quebec  was  Mother  Mary  of 
the  Incarnation.     And  this  is,  in  brief,  her  story. 

One  holy  Christmas-tide,  in  her  home  at  Tours, 
when  her  heart  and  soul  had  been  particularly  given 
up  to  union  with  God,  by  meditation  on  the  mystery 
of  His  Incarnation,  she  fell  asleep  and  dreamed.  She 
thought  that  she,  \vdth  one  companion,  hand  in  hand, 
were  toihng  along  a  broken  and  difficult  road;  more 
difficult  than  ordinary,  because  they  did  not  see,  but 
only  felt  the  obstacles.  But  they  had  plenty  of  cour- 
age, and  went  on  until  they  reached  a  place  known  as 
the  Tannery,  beyond  which  lay  their  home. 

Here  they  were  met  by  a  venerable  old  man,  in 
whose  pure,  sacred  lineaments  beamed  kindness  and 
protection.  It  was  he  who  had  watched  and  guided 
St.  Mary  and  her  Child  fi'om  the  roofs  of  Bethlehem 
to  the  palm-shades  of  Egypt.  And  St.  Joseph,  she 
thought,  conducted  them  into  a  vast  inclosure,  whereof 
the  sky  was  the  only  roof.  The  pavement  and  the 
walls  were  of  white,  spotless  alabaster,  and  arabesqued 
with  gold.  Here  all  was  silence,  deej),  religious,  recol- 
lected. And,  without  disturbing  the  holy  stillness  by 
a  word,  their  guide  pointed  out  to  them  the  way  they 
should  go.  And  they  saw  a  little  hospice  of  quaint, 
ancient  architectiu-e,  but  very  beautiful,  and  of  snow- 
white  marble ;  and  in  an  embrasure  of  this,  upon  a 
dehcately-sculjDtured  seat,  sat  Our  Blessed  Lady,  St. 


9* 


34  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

Marj,  with  tlie  infant  Jesus  in  lier  arms ;  but  tlieir 
backs  were  towards  tlie  travellers. 

Mary  of  the  Incarnation  sprang  forward  and  em- 
braced the  throne  of  her  Queen,  while  her  companion 
knelt  at  a  little  distance,  where  she  could  easily  see 
the  Virgin  and  her  Child.  The  hospice  faced  the 
Orient.  It  was  built  upon  an  eminence,  and  at  the 
foot  of  this  was  a  vast  space,  murky  with  clouds ;  and 
through  the  thick,  chill  mists  there  rose  into  pure  air 
the  spire  and  gables  of  a  church,  but  the  body  of  it 
was  hidden  by  the  heavy  fog.  A  rugged,  perilous  road 
led  do^Ti  the  rocks  into  this  space,  winding  along  fear- 
ful precipices  and  through  cavernous  rents  in  the 
mountain.  Our  Lady's  gaze  was  fixed  upon  this 
gloomy  space,  and  the  heart  of  the  nun  kneehng  be- 
hind her  burned  with  desire  to  see  the  face  of  the 
Mother  of  pure  dehghts. 

And  then  the  Virgin  turned  and  welcomed  the  sup- 
pliant with  a  smile  of  ineffable  sweetness,  and,  bend- 
ing down,  she  gently  kissed  her  forehead.  Then  she 
seemed  to  whisper  something  about  the  Ursuline  to 
the  divine  child  in  her  arms.  And  when  she  had  done 
this  three  times  the  vision  faded,  and  in  a  tremor  of 
delight  the  nun  awoke. 

A  year  after,  while  absorbed  in  mental  prayer,  the 
Ursuline  became  impressed  with  the  idea  that  the 
cold,  cloudy  space  was  Canada,  then  called  New 
France.  She  felt  the  most  powerful  attraction  to- 
wards those  unhappy  regions,  and  seemed  to  hear  a 
command  to  go  there,  and  to  found  a  house  for  Jesus 


IN  North  America.  35 

and  for  Mary;  so,  tlien  and  there,  she  promised,  if 
such  were  the  will  of  God,  to  obey  the  inspu-ation  if 
He  would  supply  the  means.  She  was  right  in  her 
conclusions ;  this  was  her  vocation ;  the  shores  of  the 
broad  St.  Lawrence  were  to  form  the  scene  of  her 
labors  for  more  than  thirty  years ;  and  then,  blessing 
and  blessed,  she  was  to  depart  thence  for  her  eternal 
home  in  heaven. 

In  October,  1636,  comes  a  letter  from  the  Jesuit 
Fathers,  inviting  her  most  urgently  to  join  them.  It 
is  dated  from  the  mission  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion ;  it  contains  an  anecdote  of  how  the  Fathers  had 
made  a  vow  to  give  the  names  of  Mary  and  Joseph  to 
the  first  persons  baptized  by  them  ;  how  they  had  ac- 
complished that  vow ;  how  Joseph  died  a  holy  Chris- 
tian death  soon  after,  but  Mary  was  living,  and  was 
the  first  Indian  who  had  brought  her  children  for 
baptism  and  education  to  the  missionaries.  Their 
converts  numbered  several  hundreds,  and  the  Fathers 
often  heard  resounding  from  the  leafy  aisles  of  the 
forest  the  sweet  names  of  Jesus  and  of  Mary. 

The  saints  have  a  straightforward  simplicity  in  their 
lives  which  prevents  our  ever  being  surprised  at  their 
actions.  After  her  vision,  her  waking  convictions  as 
to  its  significance,  and  the  letters  from  Canada,  we  are 
ready  to  see  her  seated  in  the  cabin  of  the  St.  Joseph, 
and  writing  placidly  to  her  superior  :  "  There  are  signs 
of  a  storm,  the  captain  says  ;  we  are  at  war  with  Spain 
and  England  also,  and  may  meet  their  cruisers  in  the 
Channel ;  but  those  are  not  reasons  for  being  troubled 


36  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

now.  In  fact,  one  lias  no  trouble  now ;  the  difficulty 
is  to  explain  or  understand  that  infinitely  sweet  repose 
which  follows  one's  comj)lete  abandonment  to  God; 
lorsqtion  s'est  donne  une  honnefois  a  Dieu" ' 

There  were  no  crowds  of  affectionate  friends ;  no 
well-lined  carriage  ;  no  warm  and  brilliant  drawing- 
room  ready  for  her  in  Canada :  her  welcome  was  to 
hear  the  savages  chant  hymns  in  their  own  languages  ; 
to  see  five  hundred  Huron  names  upon  a  year's  bap- 
tismal register ;  to  receive  her  young  future  pupils  as 
they  came  forward,  and  to  mark  their  names,  Mary 
Negabmah,  and  Mary  Amiskwam,  and  Mary  Abateno, 
and  Mary  Gamitien;"  and  then  to  go  to  such  house 
as  she  had,  and,  with  her  sisterhood,  commence  at 
once  her  thirty  years'  occupation. 

It  is  not  much  of  a  house,  that  convent  and  semi- 
nary of  the  Ursulines ;  between  the  cracks  of  the  planks 
you  can  see  the  bright  winter  stars ;  and  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  keep  a  candle  burning  in  the  rooms.  It 
is  no  easy  matter  to  accommodate  all  their  pupils,  and 
the  sisterhood  in  the  bargain.  The  beds,  for  instance, 
made  of  pine-plank,  have  to  be  arranged  in  tiers,  after 
the  manner  of  berths  in  a  canal-boat.  They  are 
obliged  to  cut  up  their  own  bedclothes  to  make  gar- 
ments for  the  poor  Uttle  Indian  girls  as  they  come  in, 
and  their  chief  articles  of  diet,  indeed  their  only  ones 
for  a  while,  are  salt  fish  and  lard. 

'  Choix  des  Lettres  Historiques  de  la  Venerable  Mere  Marie  de  I'ln- 
carnation,  premiere  superieure  des  Ursulines  de  Quebec,  p.  20. 
'  Ibid.,  pp.  25,  27. 


IN  NoKTH  America.  37 

And  then  the  children.  They  are  not  all  like  Mary 
Gamitien,  who  needs  no  spur  to  daybreak  devotion ; 
who  is  up  with  the  sun,  reciting  her  rosary,  and  who 
sings  beautiful  hymns  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  the 
Huron  tongue.  They  are  not  like  her  when  they  come 
out  of  the  woods.  But  they  are  brought  to  the  good 
sisters  with  no  more  clothing  than  a  solid  coat  of 
grease,  weU  rubbed  in  by  their  parents.'  And  to  get 
that,  and  worse,  off  of  those  httle  bodies,  takes  a  pro- 
found and  patient  scrubbing,  and  a  frequent  changing 
of  garments  for  months.  Nice  work  for  those  dehcate 
French  ladies ;  but  they  dispute  for  the  office  in  their 
humble,  gentle  way.  Magdalen  de  Chauvigny,  Dame 
de  la  Peltrie,  gets  it  the  first  year ;  Mother  Mary  of 
St.  Joseph  mouopohzes  it  the  next.  And  while  the 
scnibbing  goes  on,  and  indeed  always,  there  are  men 
and  women  waiting  in  the  parlor  to  be  fed  through  the 
grating  by  others  of  the  nuns. 

The  small-pox  entered  their  seminary  and  turned  it 
into  a  hospital.  The  sisters  all  resigned  themselves 
to  catch  it,  and,  if  it  were  God's  will,  to  die  of  it ;  for 
they  were  in  attendance  day  and  night  upon  their 
patients,  and  lived  all  together  in  small  and  crowded 
apartments;  but,  through  the  care  of  Mother  Mary, 
not  one  sister  was  attacked.  Add  to  this  the  perpet- 
ual wars  with  the  treacherous  Iroquois ;  the  struggles 


'  Quand  on  les  nous  donne  elles  sont  nues  comme  un  ver.  *  *  * 
Quelque  diligence  que  Ton  fasse,  quoiqu'on  les  change  souvent  de 
linge  et  d'habits,  on  ne  pen  de  long  temps  epuiser  la  vermine.— Chois 
des  lettres,  p.  31. 


38  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

of  the  medicine-men  to  retain  their  Superstitious  emi- 
nence among  the  savages, — that  small-pos,  for  in- 
stance, and  all  these  new  diseases  come,  they  say, 
from  the  magic  of  the  w^hites ;  the  seeming  impossi- 
bility of  teaching  the  elder  ones  to  bridle  their  in- 
famous passions ;  the  desolation  of  the  long  winters ; 
the  forests  echoing  with  savage  howls ;  the  repeated 
shocks  of  earthquake ;  the  dreary  wastes  of  snow 
which  spread  around ;  the  news,  now  and  then,  of  a 
missionary's  martyrdom ;  surely  these  must  break 
down  our  courage. 

Not  a  bit  of  it.  "  We  are  perfectly  well ;  we  sing 
oftener  and  better  than  we  did  in  France.  The  air  is 
excellent — a  little  cool,  perhaps,  but  excellent ;  so,  you 
see,  it  is  a  Paradise  on  earth,  where  the  crosses  and 
thorns  spring  up  so  lovingly,  that  if  one  is  pierced  by 
them  it  is  only  to  let  new  floods  of  love  in  upon  the 
heart.  Pray  God  to  give  me  the  grace  to  love  Him 
always."  ^ 

But  Mother  Mary's  troubles  and  trials  cannot  be 
given  here ;  a  mere  hst  of  them  would  take  up  too 
much  room.  Only  one  or  two  of  them  can  be  men- 
tioned, which  offer  themselves  apropos  of  our  subject. 

It  is  the  night  of  December  thirtieth,  "  in  the  Octave 
of  our  Lord's  Nativity."  Sister  Martha  has  a  large 
baking  on  hand  for  to-morrow,  and  forgets  the  fire  in 
the  bakery,  which  is  exactly  under  our  seminary.  The 
night  prayers  are  over,  and  all  go  to  bed,  to  sleep  as 

'  Clioix  des  lettres,  p.  48 


IN  North  America.  39 

well  as  the  cold  will  let  them.  A  few  hours  afterward 
we  find  that  some  of  them— poor  souls ! — have  gone  to 
bed  with  their  shoes  on,  so  terrible  is  the  chill  Ca- 
nadian air.  And,  at  midnight,  Mother  Mary  of  the 
Seraphim,  who  has  the  care  of  the  children,  and  sleeps 
at  the  door  of  the  seminary,  rushes  into  our  dormitory 
with  the  cry,  "  Wake,  sisters,  wake !  The  house  is  on 
fire  !     Up,  and  let  us  save  the  children  !" 

As  they  spring  up,  the  flames,  red  and  wild,  leap 
crackhng  through  the  pine-floor  of  the  apartment.  The 
Mother  Assistant  and  Sister  St.  Lawrence  break  down 
the  convent  grating,  which  is  fortunately  of  wood,  and 
get  out  a  portion  of  the  scholars  that  way.  Our 
Mother  Mary,  trying  to  save  some  of  the  chapel  furni- 
ture, gets  caught  between  two  fires,  hesitates  as  to 
whether  she  should  throw  the  large  crucifix,  her  own, 
out  of  the  window ;  thinks  that  that  would  be  ii-rever- 
ence,  so  kisses  it  with  lowly  love  and  faith,  and  leaves 
it  to  the  flames.  Then  she  escapes  into  the  bell-tower, 
is  just  missed  by  the  falling  beU,  and  gets  out,  bare- 
footed, into  the  December  snow. 

Sister  Ignatia  has  a  theological  difficulty.  The 
smaller  children  are  still  up  stau's  :  is  it  permitted  her 
to  give  her  life  for  theirs  ?  Meantime,  she  goes  up  to 
their  room,  and  lets  them  down,  aU  safe,  from  the 
window,  one  by  one.  Then,  with  a  fiery  crash,  the 
roof  falls  in,  and  Sister  Ignatia's  difficulty  is  solved. 

All  in  authority  appear  to  have  presence  of  mind. 
Each  goes  first  to  her  proper  post,  to  see  if  any  thing 
may  be  done  there.     Mother   Superior,  who  has  the 


4Q  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

keys,  goes  to  set  the  doors  -vvide  open,  and  stands 
there  calling  to  the  sisters  by  name.  But  no  one 
comes  forth — no  one  rephes ;  then  she  throws  herself 
at  the  feet  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  makes  a  vow — 
its  terms  we  do  not  know — for  the  preservation  of  her 
sisters ;  and,  after  a  short  agony  of  doubt,  she  finds 
them  aU  safe,  their  poor  little  Indian  girls  with  them. 

Safe  they  are,  but  nine-tenths  of  them  barefooted, 
with  a  single  garment  to  cover  them,  standing  in  the 
December  snow\  But  Mother  Mary  could  see,  by  the 
tranquillity  and  submission  of  their  faces,  that  God  was 
in  their  hearts.  "  We  were  stripped,"  she  says,  "  as 
bare  as  Job,  but  then  we  had  better  friends." 

In  fact,  the  people  had  gathered  by  this  time  round 
them ;  the  Jesuits  from  their  house,  the  French  and 
Indians  from  the  neighborhood.  One  man,  after  star- 
ing in  amazement  at  the  perfect  calm  and  resignation 
of  the  nuns,  was  heard  to  say,  "  Either  these  women 
are  mad,  or  they  have  an  exceeding  love  for  God." 

Then  all  are  hurried  off,  some  to  the  neighbors' 
houses,  some  to  the  large  parlor  of  the  Jesuits ;  the 
nuns  to  the  hospital,  where  the  sisters  clothe  them 
with  their  own  gray  habits,  and  make,  for  the  time 
being,  soeiir  grises  of  them.  On  the  way  thither  they 
are  met  by  some  good  people  with  welcome  shoes ; 
and  one  of  the  first  pair  is  given  to  Mother  Superior, 
in  right  of  her  age  and  position.  Mother  Mary  of  the 
Incarnation  does  not  say  that  she  got  a  pair,  which  is 
very  good  e^ddence  that  she  did  not ;  in  which  case 
this  dehcately  nurtured    woman    must  have  walked 


IN  North  America.  41 

some  quarter  of  a  mile,  barefooted,  tbrougli  tlie  snow, 
to  the  Hospital  of  the  Gray  Sisters. 

And  now  all  their  earthly  possessions  were  gone — 
house,  furniture  and  raiment.  Nothing  remained  to 
them  but  a  black,  ugly  mass  of  ashes  and  ruin,  whence 
a  column  of  gloomy  smoke  rose,  sluggishly  curling  up 
through  the  gray  frosty  dawn.  Not  a  whit  downcast 
is  Mother  Mary.  "Divine  Providence,"  she  says, 
"will  help  us  to  pay  our  debts  and  to  build  again. 
That  has  jolaced  us  in  our  present  sad  condition.  That 
will  set  us  up  again,  through  the  most  holy  Virgin,  of 
ivhose  succor  ice  are  so  assured,  that  we  hve  in  peace 
in  that  direction.  What  she  does  not  of  herself, 
she  will  excite  friends  to  do  for  us ;  and  so  in  time  she 
wiUdoaU.'" 

Those  miserable  Iroquois  were  the  greatest  difficulty 
of  all.  They  would  wage  war,  make  peace,  and  wage 
war  again.  They  scalped,  burned,  and  hewed  in 
pieces  our  good  Hurons  and  Algonquins.  Their  proph- 
ets accused  our  missionaries  of  bringing  disease  and 
other  misfortunes  upon  them.  Father  Jogues  goes  off 
among  them  to  have  his  fingers  cut  off,  joint  by  joint ; 
to  escape,  but  only  to  go  back  again  and  win  the 
crown  of  martyrdom.  Father  Daniel  is  burned  by 
them,  all  clad  in  his  vestments,  at  the  foot  of  his  altar. 
Father  Breboeuf  has  the  flesh  torn  from  his  body — 
torn  carefully  in  thin  strips,  so  as  not  to  break  the 
large  veins ;  has  boiling  water  poured  upon  his  head 


Choix  des  lettres,  210. 


42  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

in  mockery  of  baptism ;  lias  Ms  nails  torn  out  by 
pincers ;  and  passes  from  that  torture  into  the  eternal 
glory. 

All  these  were  friends  of  Mary  of  the  Incarnation. 
"  Ah,"  she  sighs,  "  if  we  could  only  get  hold  of  some 
Iroquois  girls  to  educate  and  send  back  as  mission- 
aries to  their  fiendish  clansmen !  But  some  of  the 
French  are  as  bad  as  the  Iroquois.  Some  have  come 
hither  only  to  trade,  ^dthout  care  for  souls ;  and  the 
easiest  trade  is  made  by  means  of  brandy,  fire-water. 
Our  best  converts,  some  of  them,  are  lured  astray; 
our  very  school-girls  get  to  love  the  heUish  beverage, 
which  they  get  when  they  go  to  see  their  parents. 
The  traders  are  excommunicated,  but  they  laugh  at 
that.  All  our  efforts  will  fail,  unless  it  please  God  to 
interfere  in  our  behalf." 

God  does  interfere,  he  shakes  that  far  northern  land 
with  an  earthquake.  It  was  in  1663  that  this  occurred. 
Houses  rocked  to  and  fro,  cracked,  and  fell  to  ruin; 
the  atmosphere  was  dust ;  steeples  swung  like  trees  in 
a  storm ;  the  mighty  St.  Lawrence  ran  yellow  as 
sulphur  ;  the  lamp  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  fell  three 
times  in  the  church  of  Beaupre.  A  mountain  near 
Tadoussac  sank  wholly  into  the  yawning  earth,  and 
the  valleys  rose  into  plains.  "  The  walls  of  our  con- 
vent split ;  we  were  nearly  choked  with  dust,  asphyxi- 
ated with  bituminous  and  sulphurous  exhalations. 
Half  of  the  neighboring  forest  was  destroyed  ;  some 
lives  were  lost ;  but  God  was  with  us !" 

The  brandv-traders,  at  least,  were  well  frightened ; 


IN  North  America.  43 

and  a  pious  governor,  coming  over  from  France,  put 
an  end  to  tliem  for  the  present.  And  we  learn,  too, 
from  these  records,  a  new  and  very  advisable  method 
of  measuring  time — a  method  much  and  successfully 
used  by  those  early  Ursulines  in  Quebec.  Some  of 
the  shocks,  they  tell  us,  only  lasted  an  Ave  Maria, 
while  others  were  as  long  as  two  Blisereres. 

All  these  trials,  and  all  the  daily  hard  labor,  seemed, 
after  all,  by  God's  benediction,  only  to  make  these 
dehcate  women  stronger,  hajipier,  healthier,  daily 
more  devout.  Mary  of  the  Incarnation  never  seemed 
to  need  repose ;  teaching,  counselling,  praying.  She 
wrote  a  catechism  in  Huron,  and  three  in  Algonquin. 
She  translated  a  large  collection  of  prayers,  and  com- 
piled a  dictionary  in  the  Indian  tongues.  "And  I," 
she  says,  "I  am  so  useless,  that  I  tremble  at  the 
account  I  must  render  before  God." 

What  then  were  her  consolations  ?  for,  in  fact,  it 
were  impossible  to  support  such  a  life  without  some. 
They  were  abundant  enough  to  fill  Mary's  heart  with 
courage,  confidence,  and  love.  There  was  the  touch- 
ing, simple  faith  of  the  Indians.  One  poor  couple, 
no  longer  young,  were  deserted  with  scorn  by  their 
heathen  relatives,  and  the  old  man  was  ill.  So  his 
wife  prayed,  "  O  Thou  who  hast  made  all.  Thou  canst 
helj)  me.  Cure  my  husband ;  for  we  believe  in  Thee, 
and  shall  beheve  in  Thee,  even  though  he  die."  "And 
when  my  wife  had  made  that  prayer,"  said  the  poor 
Indian,  "  I  got  well.  But,"  he  continued,  "  I  had  no 
canoe  to  fish  from,  and  knew  not  how  to  make  one. 


44  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

But  I  prayed  with  all  my  lieart,  '  O  Creator  of  all,  lielp 
me,  I  beseech  Thee ;  for  Thou  knowest  I  have  never 
made  a  canoe.'  And  then  I  set  to  work  at  it.  Come, 
look  at  it ;  it  is  perfect !" 

Then,  again,  the  Indians  got  into  a  habit,  when 
setting  out  on  their  hunting  expeditions,  of  leaving 
their  httle  daughters  in  the  hands  of  the  Ursulines, 
and  by  this  means  good  seed  was  sown  in  those  httle 
hearts  and  matured  there,  and  one  day  bore  a  hun- 
dred-fold. The  baptisms  increased  yearly.  New  la- 
borers for  the  ripening  harvest  came  from  France ; 
the  converted  Indian  himself  became  a  messenger  of 
good  tidings  to  his  brethren,  suffering,  many  a  time, 
torture  and  death  with  the  fervor  and  constancy  of  a 
martyr.  Above  all,  the  venerable  Mary  of  the  Incar- 
nation saw  that  sweetest  fruit  of  truth,  that  most  civil- 
izing and  gentle  making  of  influences,  devotion  to 
Mary  Mother  of  God,  spreading  deeply  and  broadly 
throughout  the  Huron  and  Algonquin  tribes,  and  sink- 
ing more  profoundly  into  the  souls  of  her  own  some- 
times too  light  countrymen. 

There  was  the  Abenaki  tradition  of  a  virgin's  son, 
who  had  repaired  the  world  after  the  great  deluge,  and 
who  was  to  come  to  earth  again.  In  the  Huron  name 
of  this  Bemg,  which  is  Messou,  the  good  Ursulines 
loved,  probably  correctly,  to  find  Messiah.  Then,  be- 
sides the  names  of  places  which  marked  the  land  to 
her  devotion,  the  Feast  of  the  Virgin's  Immaculate 
Conception  was  the  patronal  feast  of  all  those  coun- 
tries.    All  the  people,  hahitans  and  Christian  Indians, 


IN  North  America.  45 

were  wont  to  recui*  to  the  Holy  Family  in  all  their  dis- 
tresses, and  not  in  vain.  Mary  of  the  Incarnation 
knew  one  blind  man  who  had  besought  St.  Anne,  the 
Mother  of  Our  Lady,  to  restore  his  sight.  The  Saint 
caused  it  to  be  made  known  to  him  that  that  boon 
must  come  by  invocation  of  the  Holy  Family,  and  so 
he  prayed  and  received  his  sight.  Louis,  a  Christian 
Huron,  taken  by  the  sanguinary  Iroquois  and  con- 
demned to  be  burned  ahve,  was  saved  by  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  He  himseK  told  the  Ursuline  how,  as  he 
prayed  earnestly  to  Our  Lady  for  help,  in  the  night, 
he  felt  the  knots  of  the  sinew-cord  which  bound  him 
loosening  on  his  right  hand.  Then  it  fell  off,  and  left 
his  fingers  free  to  undo  the  other  knots,  and  so  pass- 
ing unseen  through  several  hundred  sleeping  Iroquois, 
he,  thanks  to  St.  Mary,  escaped  safe  to  Quebec. 

"What  a  pleasure  to  see  the  Indian  girls,  who  had 
left  the  seminary  to  pass  the  winter  in  household  du- 
ties with  thek  parents,  coming  back  in  the  spring, 
laden  with  early  flowers  to  crown  the  beloved  image  of 
the  Queen  of  May !  Their  first  visit,  on  returning,  was 
to  the  Most  Holy  Sacrament ;  their  next,  to  bring  their 
flowers  to  decorate  the  statue  of  their  beneficent 
Mother.  Even  among  the  troops,  our  venerable  Re- 
ligious knew  of  five  hundred  soldiers  who  wore  the 
scapular  and  daily  said  the  Eosary.  Indeed,  this 
beautiful  devotion  of  the  beads,  to  which  all  grades  of 
men,  the  simplest  and  the  highest  intelligences,  be- 
come so  fervently  attached,  was  seldom  neglected  in 
New  France.     Mother  Mary  asked  a  young  Indian, 


46  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

who,  soon  after  liis  baptism,  liacl  gone  upon  a  long 
hunt,  how  he  had  managed  when  temptation  assailed 
him.  "  Ah,"  he  replied,  "  I  was  often  tempted  to  sin  ; 
but  then  I  took  my  beads  in  my  hand,  and  said,  '  Have 
pity  on  me,  Jesus,  Thou  who  determinest  all ;  chase 
away  the  evil  spirit,  and  have  mercy  upon  me ;'  and 
then  the  temptation  would  depart." 

Another,  an  old  man,  gave  himself  up  entirely  to  the 
instruction  of  his  brethren.  They  used  to  see  him  with 
Victor,  an  ancient  Algonquin,  a  man  of  faith  and  love, 
but  of  decayed  memory,  reciting  the  beads  thrice  over 
at  one  visit.  Many  of  the  good  souls,  even  in  their 
long  and  exciting  hunts,  never  once  omitted  to  say  the 
five  decades  daily;  and  some,  taken  prisoners  and 
doomed  to  die  with  the  martyr  Jogues,  when  the  beads 
were  taken  from  them  by  the  cruel  Iroquois,  said  the 
prayers  upon  their  fingers ;  and  when  these  were  cut 
off,  joint  by  joint,  they  said  them  on  the  bleeding 
stumps — a  Rosary  indeed.  Where  such  faith,  such 
devotion  were,  it  was  not  possible  for  our  gentle  Queen 
and  Mother  to  leave  unanswered  the  fervent  prayers  of 
her  children.     One  instance  out  of  many. 

A  young  lieutenant,  coming  too  late  to  say  the  Ro- 
sary with  the  rest,  walked  out  mto  the  bordering  woods 
to  pray  apart.  And  there,  while  kneeling,  the  sentinel 
took  him  for  a  lurking  Iroquois,  for  it  was  in  time  of 
war,  and  firing  at  him  from  the  distance  of  ten  paces, 
shot  him  in  the  head,  a  finger's  breadth  above  the 
temple.  But  Our  Lady  preserved  him ;  he  fell,  but 
rose  again,  with  his  beads  still  in  his  hands ;  the  ball 


IN  North  Ameeica.  47 

was  extracted  from  the  skull,  and  he  felt  no  very  evil 
effects  from  the  wound.  Nav,  where  the  famous 
church  of  St.  Anne  overlooks  the  broad  St.  Lawrence, 
oiu'  dear  Lord  manifested  His  love  for  His  blessed 
Mother  by  daily  miracles  accorded  to  her  intercession  ; 
and  to-day,  the  rough  boatman  of  those  regions  will 
tell  you  coimtless  instances  of  mercy  sought  and  won 
by  prayer  to  Mary,  his  patroness  and  Queen. 

So,  then,  amid  such  trials  and  such  consolations,  in 
faith,  hope,  patience,  and  charity,  did  this  devout  ser- 
vant of  Mary  pass  thirty  years  and  more  of  holy  life  ; 
and  when  worn  out  at  last,  with  the  same  sweet  confi- 
dence and  resignation,  she  crossed  her  pale  hands 
upon  her  bosom,  and  gave  up  her  soul  to  the  Virgin, 
who  presented  it  lovingly  to  her  God  and  Son.  Mother 
Mary  of  the  Incarnation  ceased  from  her  labors  in  the 
year  of  grace  1672. 

Father  James  Marquette. 

We  have  Breboeuf  and  Daniel,  Jogues  and  Noue  and 
Bressany,  the  Jesuits,  the  Recollects,  the  Oblates,  the 
Sulf)icians  to  choose  from,  and  we  take  Father  James 
Marquette  as  the  most  American,  so  to  say,  inasmuch 
as  he  was  the  discoverer  and  explorer  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  as  remarkably  devout  to  Mary,  having  in 
childhood  been  consecrated  to  her,  and  in  manhood  as 
doing  all  for  God  through  especial  devotion  to  the  Im- 
maculate Conception. 

Of  an  ancient  family  of  Laon,  always  famed  for  their 


48  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

valor  in  war  and  their  sincerity  in  devotion,  this  glori- 
ous servant  of  Mary  was  born  in  the  year  1637.  UntU 
the  age  of  seventeen,  his  mother.  Rose  de  la  Salle,  had 
educated  him,  inspiring  him  with  that  profound,  ar- 
dent, tender,  and  unwavering  devotion  to  Our  Lady 
which  was  the  mainspring  of  his  Kfe.  Wlien  he  had 
reached  his  seventeenth  year  she  gave  him  up  to  God 
in  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Twelve  years  from  that  dedi- 
cation he  landed  in  Canada.  Mother  Mary  of  the  In- 
carnation was  one  of  those  who  welcomed  him  to  the 
toils  and  self-sacrifice  which  his  sacred  ambition  de- 
sired. New  York  was  red  with  missionary  blood,  and 
he  longed  for  that  field  of  labor,  but  it  was  not  to  be 
his.  First  of  all  he  must  learn  the  languages,  but  these 
he  soon  mastered.  Then  he  began  his  westward 
march,  and  first  halted  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  where 
the  Cross  had  been  planted  by  Father  Isaac  Jogues 
twenty  years  before,  but  had  fallen.  It  was  for  Mar- 
quette and  Allouez  to  replant  it,  and  to  build  the  first 
Catholic  church  there,  where  now  stands  the  cathedral 
of  St.  Mary,  and  the  apostolic  Bishop  Baraga  pre- 
sides. 

From  this,  further  west  to  the  Ottawa,  was  a  mission 
almost  hopeless,  from  the  abandonment  of  that  people 
to  the  worship  of  their  own  passions.  But  now  the 
great  dream  of  his  life  began  to  rise  in  his  heart,  soon 
to  take  possession  of  it  altogether.  He  had  heard  from 
straggling  hunters,  as  from  general  rumor,  that  out  to- 
wards the  sunset  a  mighty  river  took  its  rise  and  rolled 
its  floods,  for  measureless  miles,   through  populous 


IN  NoETH  America.  49 

pagan  lands,  to  the  far  southern  seas.  Ah !  to  dis- 
cover this — to  launch  himself  on  those  SAvift  tides  with 
his  cross,  his  beads,  and  his  breviary!  not  to  win  a 
name  among  the  learned  of  the  earth,  the  applause  of 
science,  the  gratitude  of  trade,  but  to  bear  to  those  lost 
tribes  the  glad  news  of  a  Eedeemer ;  to  people  heaven 
with  their  ransomed  souls ;  to  teach  those  pathless 
prairies  and  unhewn  woods  to  re-echo  the  sweet  names 
of  Jesus  and  of  Mary  ! 

This,  Father  James  Marquette  felt,  was  to  be,  for 
the  future,  his  ambition.  So  at  once  he  began  offering 
up  perpetual  devotions  to  the  Immaculate  Mother  for 
the  accomplishment  of  his  yearning.  Indeed,  things 
seemed  to  work  that  way.  He  was  sent  south  and 
westward  to  Mackinac,  south  and  westward  to  Green 
Bay — southward,  at  last,  to  the  Illinois.  Everywhere 
he  heard  more  and  plainer  tidings  of  the  great  river, 
and  he  redoubled  his  devotions.  Then  Mary  heard 
and  granted  his  j)i'ayers.  Joliet  arrived,  sent  by  the 
Count  de  Frontenac,  then  governor  of  Canada,  and 
bringing  with  him,  from  Marquette's  superiors,  the 
long  wished-for  permission.  And  note  the  day  of  Jo- 
liet's  arrival :  it  is  the  8th  of  December,  the  Feast  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception  of  Mary  ! 

The  heart  of  the  missionary  burned  within  him,  for 
it  took  months  to  prepare  the  expedition ;  but  at  last 
it  was  ready,  at  the  mission  of  St.  Ignatius,  the  cross 
of  which,  on  the  Isle  of  Mackinac,  was  seen  over  the 
wide  straits  and  from  the  two  inland  seas  of  Huron 
and  of  Michigan ;  and  in  the  middle  of  May,  the  month 
D  3 


50  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

of  Mary,  they  pushed  out  their  bark  canoes  upon  the 
deep  blue  lake.  They  took  all  possible  precautions, 
made  all  prudent  preparations,  but  "  above  all,"  says 
Marquette,  "  I  placed  our  voyage  under  the  protection 
of  the  Blessed  Yu'gin  Immaculate,  and  promised  her 
that  if  she  obtained  us  the  grace  of  discovering  the 
great  river,  I  would  give  it  the  name  of  Conception,  as 
I  would  do  to  the  first  mission  I  should  establish 
among  those  new  nations." ' 

The  story  of  this  discovery  cannot  be  repeated  here ; 
it  is  the  common  property  of  historian  and  geogi'apher. 
We  have  only  to  show  the  voyage  of  devotion  to  the 
Mother  of  God,  and  what  advances  that  made  into  the 
wild  interior  of  North  America.  The  missionarv,  start- 
ing  inward  from  the  shores  of  Green  Bay,  had  pene- 
trated west  and  south,  through  many  adventures,  leav- 
ing here  and  there  some  hint  of  the  Gospel,  which  he 
hoped  one  day  to  preach  to  all  these  .nations,  and 
reaching  at  length  a  stream,  wide,  and  swift,  and  deep, 
which  they  told  him  would  bear  him  to  the  great  river. 
Before  embarking  on  its  bosom,  they  began  a  new  de- 
votion to  the  Blessed  Virgin  Immaculate,  which  they 
practised  every  day,  and  "by  especial  prayers  we 
placed,"  he  says,  "  under  her  protection  the  success  of 
our  voyage  and  ourselves."^     Then,  for  a  hundred  and 


1  Sourtout  je  mis  nostre  voyage  soiibs  la  protection  de  la  Ste.  Vierge 
Immaculee,  luy  promettant,  que  si  elle  nous  faisoit  la  grace  de  decou- 
vxir  la  grande  riviere  je  luy  donnerois  le  nom  de  la  Conception. — Recit 
dee  Voyages  et  des  Deacouvertes  de  P.  Jacques  Marquette,  cap.  ii. 

*  Eecit  des  Voyages,  cap  iii. 


IN  North  Aiierica.  51 

twenty  miles,  they  float  down  the  Wisconsin,  through 
the  State  of  that  name,  to  its  mouth  and  the  object  of 
their  wishes.  Then  out  upon  the  broad  breast  of  the 
Father  of  Waters,  and  down  its  stream  past  Iowa, 
Missouri,  IlHnois,  noting  every  object,  the  nature  of 
the  trees,  the  varying  width  of  water,  the  animals,  es- 
pecially the  "wild  cattle,"  and  the  panthers  which 
came  in  sight.*  , 

The  Illinois  seem  to  have  been  a  mild,  dignified,  and 
hospitable  race,  receiving  Marquette  in  their  villages, 
showing  him  their  customs,  and  hstening  with  respect 
to  the  new  doctrines  which  he  uttered.  They  urged 
him  to  stay  with  them,  and  when  he  refused  for  the 
time,  gave  him  provisions  for  his  journey  and  a  calu- 
met for  his  defence.  Tlien  down  the  river  again  as  far 
as  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas.  Just  above  this  they 
had  been  attacked  by  a  party  of  hostile  Indians,  ap- 
parently not  natives  of  the  neighborhood — perhaps 
Tuscaroras  or  Iroquois.  They  were  armed  with  bows, 
aiTows,  axes,  war-clubs,  and  bucklers,  and  prepared  to 
attack  the  missionary  both  by  land  and  water,  some 
embarking  in  canoes,  a  part  to  ascend,  others  to  de- 
scend the  river,  so  as  to  surround  their  prey.  The 
current  drew  the  canoe  to  the  shore,  and  the  young 
men  sprang  in  to  seize  it ;  but  not  getting  near  enough 
for  that,  they  returned  to  the  shore,  and  seizing  their 
bows  and  arrows,  prepared  to  pierce  the  servant  of 
God.      Death  seemed  inevitable.      "But,"   says  the 


'  Marquette  gives  the  name  of  pisikiou  to  the  American  bison 


52  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

faithful  Marquette,  "  we  had  recourse  to  our  patroness 
and  guide,  the  Holy  Yirgin  Immaculate,  and  we  had 
great  need  of  her  assistance,  for  the  savages  were  urg- 
ing each  other  to  the  slaughter  by  fierce  and  continual 
cries." '  But  God  suddenly  touched  the  hearts  of  the 
old  men,  the  youth  were  checked,  and  for  that  time  the 
missionary  was  spared. 

» They  had  now  reached  a  land  where  the  inhabitants 
"never  see  snow,  and  know  the  winter  only  by  the 
rain  which  falls  oftener  than  in  summer ;"  that  is,  they 
were  in  Arkansas.  And  now  the  problem  of  the  great 
river  was  solved ;  and  they  knew  how  that,  coming 
from  the  cold  lakes  of  the  north,  it  watered  so  vast  an 
extent  of  country,  to  empty  at  last  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  For  they  had  heard  already,  by  the  New 
York  missionaries,  how  bands  of  wandering  Iroquois 
had  warred  against  the  Ontongannha,  who  lived  on 
the  banks  of  a  beautifid  river  (Ohio)  which  leads  to 
the  great  lake,  as  they  called  the  sea,  where  they 
traded  with  Europeans  "  who  pray  to  God  as  we  do, 
and  have  rosaries,  and  bells,  to  call  men  to  prayers."* 
Of  these  and  other  such  accounts,  Marquette  gained 
full  confirmation  fi'om  the  Arkansas  tribes ;  and  so, 
having  navigated  its  waters  for  a  distance  of  eight  de- 
grees, and  pubhshed  the  Gospel  as  well  as  he  could"  to 
the  nations  he  had  met,  and  learning  that  all  the  tribes 
below  w^ere  in  perpetual  war  and  furnished  with  fire- 

'  Recit,  cap.  viii. 

'  Shea's  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  pref.,  p.  xxiii, 

'  Recit,  cap.  ix. 


IN  North  America.  53 

arms,  lie  turned  the  prow  of  liis  canoe  and  began  to 
ascend  the  river. 

Entering  the  Illinois  Eiver,  he  passed  a  town  of  the 
Kaskaskias ;  another,  higher  up,  of  the  Peorias,  and 
was  compelled  to  promise  both  to  return  and  instruct 
them.  Three  days  he  preached  the  faith  in  all  their 
cabins,  baptized  a  dying  child,  and  so,  after  a  voyage 
of  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-seven  miles, 
on  foot  or  in  birch  canoe,  he  reached  the  mission  of 
Green  Bay. 

It  was  here,  under  the  roof  dedicated  to  his  beloved 
mission-model,  St.  Francis  Xavier,  that  Marquette 
spent,  the  summer  of  1674:,  trying  to  recover  from  the 
chronic  dysentery  which  his  labors  and  fatigues  had 
brought  ujDon  him ;  and  it  was  here  that  the  eagerly 
sought  orders  found  him  to  go  to  the  Illinois.  In  the 
month  of  November  he  set  out,  and  was  well  enough 
upon  the  lake ;  but,  with  the  severe  cold  upon  the 
land,  his  disease  attacked  him  with  redoubled  vigi- 
lance. Still  he  pushed  on  ;  for  had  he  not  his  work  tc 
do  ?  But  when  he  reached  the  banks  of  the  Illinois, 
and  found  that  river  frozen,  he  was  prostrated.  And 
there  he  lay,  so  ill  that  even  on  his  weU-loved  patronal 
feast,  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  (Dec.  8),  he  could 
not  offer  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  There  he  must  winter, 
that  dying  servant  of  Mary,  in  a  half-open  wigwam, 
exposed  to  the  fierce  northern  blasts,  dependent  for 
his  food  upon  the  guns  of  his  two  poor  French  com- 
panions. 

The  Illinois  heard  of  him,  but  only  send  to  him  for 


64:  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

powder  and  for  goods.  "I  have  come,"  lie  answers, 
"  to  instruct  you,  to  speak  to  you  of  prayer,  to  stop 
your  wars  with  the  Miamis,  and  to  spread  peace 
throughout  the  land.  Powder  have  I  none."'  How 
much  does  he  murmur?  "The  Blessed  Immaculate 
Virgin" — these  are  his  words  in  his  last  journal — "  has 
taken  such  care  of  us  in  our  wandering,  that  we  have 
never  wanted  food  ;  we  hve  quite  comfortably."''  This 
is  the  "  History  of  the  Devotion  to  the  Blessed  Yirgin 
Mary  in  North  America,"  this  spiiit  in  her  servants. 
What  worldly  motive-power  is  going  to  resist  or  over- 
come this?  See  that  lone,  feeble  missionary,  that 
child  of  an  antique  race  of  sunny  France,  in  the  poor 
bark  hut  of  the  savage,  in  the  dead  of  the  northern 
winter,  lying  prostrate  tliere,  yet  performing  the 
spiritual  exercises  of  St.  Ignatius,  confessing  and  com- 
municating his  two  comrades  twice  a  week,  fasting  on 
Fridays  and  Saturdays,  and  saying,  axid  Relieving,  in 
his  deep,  saintly  humihty,  that  he  "  lives  quite  com- 
fortably !" '  That,  we  say,  is  the  History  of  the  Devo- 
tion to  Saint  Mary ;  stop  that^  if  you  can,  by  a  sneer, 
a  treatise,  or  a  mob ! 

Meantime,  the  flesh  of  humanity  has  its  laws,  and 
under  these  the  missionary  is  doomed  to  death.     Far 

'  Marquette's  unfinislied  journal-letter  to  Father  Dablon,  superior 
of  the  missions,  December  26. 

*  Journal,  December  30. 

^  The  last  words  in  his  jovirnal  are  a  gentle  jest  at  the  fatigues  of 
the  French  traders — he  forgets  his  own :  "  Si  les  Franqois  ont  dea 
robbes  de  ce  pays  icy,  ils  ne  les  desrobbent  pas,  tant  les  fatigues  sont 
grands  pour  les  en  tirer."     April  6. 


IN  North  Ameeica.  65 

south  lies  the  desired  mission ;  here,  where  he  is  lying, 
stretch  the  desolate  snows  and  howls  the  wild  boreal 
wind.  He  sinks  daily,  hourly ;  his  comrades  are  be- 
ginning to  consider  where,  beneath  the  frosts,  they 
shall  scoop  out  his  sohtary  grave.  But  he  says,  "  Not 
yet.  Let  me  see  my  mission  first,  and  then  die.  To 
prayer,  friends!"  Never  has  that  dear  Lady  Mother 
of  his  failed  him  yet ;  nor,  such  is  his  confidence,  will 
she  do  so  now.  They  make  a  novena  to  the  Immacu- 
late Mother  of  God,  to  Mary  conceived  without  sin. 
His  companions  have  but  little  faith — he  much.  And 
the  prayer  of  nine  days  is  past,  and  Marquette  rises 
from  the  couch  of  death  recovered. 

On  the  29th  of  March,  in  the  Octave  of  the  Annun- 
ciation of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  he  is  able,  still  very 
feeble,  to  start.  The  ice  is  broken  up  and  is  floating 
down  the  river.  On  the  8th  of  April  he  reaches  the 
long-desired  village  of  the  Kaskaskias.  Here  he 
assembled  for  several  days  the  ancients  of  the  tribe, 
then  visited  the  separate  wigwams,  which  were  crowded 
to  hear  him.  On  Thursday,  in  Holy  Week,  he  spake 
to  all  in  public.  It  was  a  large  town,  five  hundred 
fires  burned  there  daily,  and  his  audience  was  vast. 
His  church  was  a  prairie  knoll.  On  four  sides  of  him 
were  planted  his  banners,  large  pictures  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  attached  to  strips  of  India  tafi'ety.  Five  hun- 
di-ed  chiefs  and  ancients  formed  the  first  circle,  nearest 
to  the  Father ;  fifteen  hundred  young  warriors  gathered 
behind  them ;  the  women  and  the  children  formed  the 
outer  ring. 


56  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

Thus  he  preached  to  them  the  doctrine  of  Christ 
crucified ;  the  Gospel  of  God's  Son  made  Mary's  Son 
for  them.  He  offered  up  the  awful  sacrifice  of  the 
Mass  for  their  conversion.  On  Easter  Sunday  he  cele- 
brated the  same  dread  mysteries  again,  and  claimed 
that  land  as  a  possession  for  the  Most  High  God,  and 
gave  that  mission  the  name  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception of  St.  Mary. 

The  good  Indians  received  his  message  with  joy; 
his  mission  was  securely  founded,  and  his  work  was 
done.  He  could  not  labor  there,  but  must  go  and  get 
other  Fathers  to  replace  him.  For  thirty  miles  on  his 
way  the  new  converts  attend  him,  contesting  who  shall 
carry  something  belonging  to  him.  Then  he  reaches 
Lake  Michigan,  poor  Jacques  and  Francois  despairing 
almost  of  getting  him  further  ;  for  he  Hes  helpless  in 
their  arms  now,  or  wherever  they  lay  him  down — 
gentle,  but  feeble  as  a  httle  child.  He  smiles,  and 
speaks  sweet,  calm  encoiu-agement  to  these  two,  or 
lies  quiet,  murmuring  from  time  to  time,  "  I  know  that 
my  Kedeemer  Uveth,"  or  "  Mary,  mother  of  grace  and 
Mother  of  God,  remember  me!"  He  directs  every 
thing  to  be  prepared  for  his  death,  blessing  holy  water 
for  his  agony  and  burial,  instructing  his  companions, 
reading  his  breviary  until  the  film  of  approaching  dis- 
solution gathers  on  his  eyes. 

He  had  always  entreated  his  dear  Mother  that  he 
might  die  on  Saturday,  the  day  of  the  office  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception.  Well,  Saturday  had  come, 
and  he  bade  them  paddle  to  the  shore  to  a  knoU,  at 


IX  North  America.  57 

the  foot  of  wliicli  a  little  river  ran  into  tlie  lake.'  They 
laid  him,  like  St.  Francis  Xavier,  upon  the  shore,  and 
stretched  some  birch-bark  uj)on  poles  above  him. 
There  he  gave  them  the  last  directions,  thanked  them 
for  their  love,  begged  theii-  pardon  for  the  trouble  he 
had  given,  heard  their  confessions,  and  bade  them 
take  some  repose.  When  they  returned,  he  had  en- 
tered the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  ;  but  he  told 
one  of  them  to  take  his  crucifix  and  hold  it  up  where 
his  eyes  might  rest  upon  it.  Looking  on  this,  he 
uttered  his  profession  of  faith,  and  thanked  the  Triune 
Majesty  for  the  grace  of  dying  a  missionary  of  Jesus, 
alone,  and  in  the  land  of  savages.  Then,  now  and 
again,  they  heard  him  say,  Sustinuit  anima  mea  in 
verba  ejus,  and  Mater  Dei,  memento  mei.  Then,  as  he 
seemed  to  be  passing  away,  they  called  aloud,  as  he 
had  told  them,  the  names  of  Jesus  and  of  Mary,  and 
at  the  sound  he  raised  his  eyes  above  the  crucifix  ;  he 
saw  some  object  which  they  could  not  see,  for  his  eyes 
filled  wdth  the  light  of  inefi'able  joy ;  a  look  of  intensest 
delight  made  his  whole  face  radiant;  he  cried  out, 
Jesus  and  Mary  !  and  fell  asleep. 

Surely  we  have  no  need  of  words  to  connect  this 
man's  life  with  devotion  to  the  Mother  of  God,  or  of 
the  part  he  took  in  establishing  it  in  America.  Let  us 
content  ourselves  with  citing  the  words  of  one  of  his 
editors  and  biographers  :°  "  We  could  say  much  of  his 

'  The  river  and  the  bay  into  which  it  falls,  in  Colton's  Atlas,  are 
culled  Marquette. 
''  John  G.  Shea :  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  p.  64 

3^ 


6s  Detotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Makt 

rare  virtues,  of  his  missionary  zeal,  of  his  childh'ke 
candor,  of  his  angelic  purity,  and  his  continual  union 
with  God.     But  his  predominant  virtue  was  a  most 
rare  and  singular  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and 
especially  in  the  mystery  of  the  Immaculate  Concej)- 
tiou.     It  was  a  pleasure  to  hear  him  preach  or  speak 
on  this  subject.     Every  conversation  and  letter  of  his 
contained  something  about  the   Blessed  Virgin  Im- 
maculate, as  he  always  styled  her.     From  the  age  of 
nine,  he  fasted  every  Saturday,  and  from  his  most 
tender  youth  began  to  recite  daily  the  httle  office  of 
the  Conception,  and  inspired  all  to  adopt  this  devotion. 
For  some  months  before  his  death,  he  daUy  recited, 
with  his  two  men,  a  little  chaplet  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  which  he  had  arranged  in  this  form  :  after 
the  Creed,  they  said  one  '  Our  Father,  and  Hail  Mary ;' 
then,  four  times,  these  words  :  *  Hail,  daughter  of  God 
the  Father  !  hail,  Mother  of  God  the  Son!  hail.  Spouse 
of  the  Holy  Ghost !  hail.  Temple  of  the  whole  Trinity ! 
By  thy  holy  virginity  and  immaculate  conception,  0 
most  i)U-i'e  Virgin,  cleanse  my  flesh  and  my  heart.     In 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost;'  and,  last  of  all,  the  'Glory  be  to  the 
Father,'  the  whole  thrice  repeated. 

"So  tender  a  devotion  to  the  Mother  of  God  de- 
served some  singular  grace,  and  she  accordingly 
granted  him  the  favor  he  had  always  asked — to  die 
upon  a  Saturday;  and  his  two  companions  had  no 
doubt  that  she  appeared  to  him  at  the  hour  of  his 
death,  when,  after  pronouncing  the  names  of  Jesua  and 


IN  North  Ameeica.  59 

Mary,  lie  suddenly  raised  his  eyes  above  the  crucifix, 
fixing  tliem  on  an  object  which  he  regarded  with  such 
pleasure  and  joy  that  they  ht  up  his  countenance  ;  and 
they,  from  that  moment,  beheved  that  Jie  had  surren- 
dered his  soul  into  the  hands  of  his  good  Mother." 

His  bones  were  laid  in  the  Isle  of  Mackinac,  where 
they  were  taken  soon  after ;  his  name  is  invoked  by 
the  boatmen  when  the  lake  is  agitated  by  storms, 
and  the  Indians  call  him  the  "Angel  of  the  Ottawa 
Mission." 


60  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 


CHAPTER  III. 

Advance  of  the  Devotion — First  Seventy-five  Years — Jesuits  in  Ca- 
nada— OuB  Lady  of  Angels — Olier  and  St.  Sulpice — The  City  of 
Mary — Mademoiselle  Manse  and  the  Hospital  Sisters. 

"We  have  shown  rather  fully  the  spirit  of  those 
whom  God,  in  His  mercy  to  America,  has  charged 
with  the  diffusion  of  devotion  to  Mary.  Nor  did  we 
choose  them  from  any  special  preference  for  them 
rather  than  for  others ;  for  the  Hospital  Sisters  of  Our 
Lady  were  in  Canada  before  the  Ursulines  arrived, 
and  there  were  gray-headed  missionaries  among  the 
Indians  before  James  Marquette  had  left  his  own 
sunny  France.  The  spirit  which,  in  the  first  chapter, 
we  set  forth  as  necessary,  is  conveniently  exemplified 
in  Mary  of  the  Incarnation  and  the  holy  discoverer  of 
the  Mississippi ;  but  it  is  the  same  in  all  the  servants. 
Urged  by  the  love  of  souls,  the  children  of  St.  Francis, 
known  as  Recollects,  as  early  as  the  year  1616,  follow 
the  good  Champlain.  Of  these  three  priests,  two 
throw  themselves  at  once  into  the  difficult  struggle, 
against  sin  and  death,  among  the  nomadic  Algonquins 
of  the  Saguenay,  the  Ottawa,  and  the  St.  Lawrence, 
while  the  other  pushes  forward  to  the  shores  of  Lake 
Huron,  among  the  more  settled  Wyandots  or  Hurons. 
Three  others  are  found  about  the  same  time  in  Maine  ; 
but  the  new,  young  orders  of  Jesuits  and  Sulpicians, 


m  North  Ameeica.  61 

full  of  fresli  ardor  and  energy,  came  upon  the  field  and 
claimed  its  dangers  and  its  toils,  in  tlie  names  of  Jesus 
and  Mary. 

The  year  1625  is  the  first  of'tlie  establishment  of  the 
Jesuits,  although  they  had  labored  in  Nova  Scotia  and 
Maine  fi'om  1608  to  the  conquest  of  Acadia.  Then  the 
Due  de  Yentadour  granted  them  lands  around  Quebec, 
under  the  title  of  the  Seigneurie  of  our  Lady  of  Angels. 
Their  first  house  was  built  at  St.  Charles.  Then  for 
the  Mission  of  St.  Joseph,  near  Quebec,  Brulart  de  Sil- 
lery  furnishes  foundation.  He  desires  to  estabhsh  a 
spot  where  the  wandering  savages  may  be  attracted 
and  assembled,  as  the  surest  mode  of  their  conversion. 
He  hopes,  in  the  deed  of  foundation,  that  all  his  plans 
"  will  happily  succeed  by  the  merits  and  powerful  help 
of  the  most  holy  Virgin,  Mother  of  God  ;  and  wishes, 
by  the  deed,  also  to  testify  the  gratitude  which  he  feels 
for  the  wondrous  favors  received  fi'om  that  Mother  of 
Mercy."  So  he  dedicates  the  foundation  "  to  the 
honor  and  glory  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity, — of  the 
Father,  who  chose  the  Virgin  to  give  a  second  life  unto 
His  Son ;  of  the  Son,  who  accepted  her  as  His  Moth- 
er ;  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  operated  in  her  the  work 
of  the  adorable  Incarnation  ;  and  in  honor  of  that  same 
Virgin,  who  hath  ever  been  Immaculate  and  without 
defect ;  and  in  memory  and  thanksgiving  of  the  mira- 
cles of  holiness  wrought  in  her,  and  in  gratitude  for 
the  graces  which  he,  the  founder,  has  received  from 
God  by  her  intercession." 

So  there  he  established  a  residence  of  Jesuits,  on 


62  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  INIaey 

condition  tliat  the  "  Fathers  shall  saj,  or  cause  to  be 
said  there,  forever,  a  Mass  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  on 
every  day  permitted  by  the  usage  of  the  Church  ;  and 
on  other  days  the  Mass  shall  be  celebrated  with  the 
same  intention  of  honoring  the  Mother  of  God,  so  as 
to  thank  her  more  worthily,  and  to  invoke  her  more 
efficaciously  by  this  foundation,  j)lacing  her  Son  Jesus 
Christ  anew  in  her  hands,  and  heartily  beseeching  her 
to  offer  Him,  herself,  in  daily  sacrifice  to  God  for  the 
whole  Church,  and  in  express  memory  of  that  admu-a- 
ble  offering  which  the  same  Mother  made  of  her  Son 
at  the  moment  of  the  Incarnation,  and  afterwards  in 
the  Temple,  to  satisfy  the  apparent  obhgation  of  the 
law,  and  finally  at  the  Cross,  on  the  mountain  of  Cal- 
vary."^ 

Thus  founded  at  Quebec,  the  members  of  the  Com- 
pany of  Jesus  radiated  throughout  all  New  France, 
carrying  the  Light  and  warmth  of  salvation  to  every 
part  of  its  territory.  Checked  for  awhile  by  the  suc- 
cess of  the  British  arms,  it  was  only  to  commence 
again  with  renewed  fervor.  By  1633  no  less  than  fif- 
teen priests  of  their  order  were  at  work  in  Canada, 
"  and  every  tradition  bears  testimony  to  their  worth. 
Away  from  the  amenities  of  life,  away  from  the  oppor- 
tunities of  vain-glory,  they  became  dead  to  the  world, 
and  possessed  their  souls  in  unutterable  peace.  The 
few  who  lived  to  grow  old,  though  bowed  by  the  toils 

*  Fondation  faite  par  le  Commandeur  de  Sillery  pour  le  Residence . 
de  St.  Joseph,  pres  de  Quebec,  from  Father  Bressani's  Relation  abr©- 
gee,  redigee  par  R.  P.  Martin,  Montreal,  1852. 


m  NoETH  Amekica.  63 

of  a  long  mission,  still  kindled  witli  the  fervor  of  apos- 
tolic zeal.  The  history  of  their  labors  is  connected 
with  the  origin  of  every  celebrated  town  in-  the  annals 
of  French  America ;  not  a  ca^se  was  turned,  nor  a  river 
entered,  but  a  Jesuit  led  the  way." ' 

They  followed  the  shores  of  the  lakes  to  the  Bay  of 
Saguenay,  and  pierced  into  the  heart  of  the  Huron  for- 
ests. St.  Mary's  rose  upon  the  Niagara  Eiver.  The 
Marquis  de  Gamache  gave  himself  to  the  Society,  and 
endowed  with  his  ample  fortime  the  first  college  at 
Quebec.  From  16^1  to  1644:  the  remoter  Huron  mis- 
sionaries received  no  suppHes ;  their  clothes  fell  to 
pieces;  they  had  scarce  bread  enough  for  the  Holy 
Mysteries ;  they  themselves  crushed  the  necessary 
wine  from  the  ^-ild  grape  that  sprang  in  the  woodlands. 
And  yet,  before  1647,  forty-two  members  of  the  order 
had  visited  and  labored  in  these  lonely  wilds,  counting 
their  Hves  as  nothing,  if  only  they  could  win  souls  for 
the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

Before  1690,  thu'teen  had  baptized  the  pagan  land 
with  theu'  blood.  Others  had  fallen  victims  to  starva- 
tion or  exposure. 

Father  Anne  de  Noue,  after  years  of  terrible  toil, 
died,  frozen  stiff  and  cold  by  the  wild  February  blasts, 
upon  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  They  found  him 
kneeling  upright,  with  crucifix  clasped  to  his  breast, 
and  calm  eyes  open  and  fixed  on  heaven,  on  the  Feast 
of  the  Purification  of  her  whom  he  loved  and  served  so 

'  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  iii.  123. 


64  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

well  (1646).  Charles  Gamier,  pierced  by  three  Iro- 
quois musket-balls,  prepared  to  die,  when  he  saw  a 
Christian  Indian  expiring.  The  sight  awakened  aU 
the  priest  within  him  ;  he  staggered  to  his  feet  only  to 
fall  again.  But  though  he  could  not  rise,  he  could  and 
did  drag  himself  along  the  blood-stained  ground,  and, 
as  he  gave  the  last  absolution,  a  tomahawk  clove  his 
skull,  and  he  died  on  the  eve  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception, which  gracious  mystery  he  had  early  bound 
himself  by  a  vow  to  defend,  even  unto  death  (1649). 

Anthony  Daniel  fell  at  the  Iroquois  sacking  of  St. 
Joseph's,  in  1648.  The  braves  were  all  absent  at  the 
chase.  There  were  none  at  home  but  the  old  priest, 
the  women,  and  the  children,  when  the  savages  burst 
through  the  pahsades.  Swift  he  rushes  to  the  wig- 
wams to  baptize  the  sick ;  a  crowd  of  others  demand 
that  Sacrament ;  he  has  no  time  for  even  shortest  cere- 
monies ;  he  dips  his  handkerchief  in  water,  and  bap- 
tizes them  by  aspersion.  Then  he  gave  general  abso- 
lution to  all  who  sought  it,  and,  entering  the  chapel, 
he  vested  and  stood  prepared  to  meet  his  death.  "  The 
wigwams  are  set  on  fire ;  the  Mohawks  approach  the 
chapel,  and  the  consecrated  envoy  serenely  advances 
to  meet  them.  Astonishment  seized  the  barbarians. 
At  length,  drawing  near,  they  discharged  at  him  a 
flight  of  arrows.  All  gashed  and  rent  by  wounds,  he 
still  continued  to  speak  to  them  with  surprising  energy 
— now  inspiring  fear  of  the  Divine  anger,  and  again,  in 
gentle  tones,  breathing  the  affectionate  messages  of 
mercy  and  gi-ace.     Such  were  his  actions  until  he  re- 


IN  North  America.  65 

ceived  a  death-blow  from  a  halbert.  The  victim  of  the 
heroism  of  charity  died,  the  name  of  Jesus  on  his  lips. 
The  wilderness  gave  him  a  grave ;  the  Huron  nation 
were  his  mourners." '  It  was  in  the  Octave  of  the  Visi- 
tation of  Mary  Mother  of  God. 

Noel  Chabanel  receives  his  death-blow  upon  the 
banks  of  a  stream  near  St.  Mary's,  from  the  axe  of  an 
apostate  Huron,  on  the  8th  of  December,  the  Feast  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception."  Rene  Goapil,  so  livid 
and  mashed  with  club  bruises  that  his  features  were 
undistinguishable,  had  his  thumbs  cut  off  while  repeat- 
ing "  Jesus,  Mary,  Joseph."  Tied  to  the  ground  upon 
his  back,  at  nigjit  the  savage  boys  poured  coals  upon 
his  breast  until  the  flesh  was  charred.  Six  days 
tormented  thus,  he  and  his  companion.  Father  Jogues, 
too  weak  to  escape,  were  left  at  hberty.  But  one  day, 
when  they  had  retired  apart  to  pray,  two  young  men 
followed  and  ordered  them  back.  "  Dear  brother," 
said  the  Father,  "  let  us  recommend  ourselves  to  our 
Lord  and  to  our  good  Mother  the  Blessed  Virgin,  for 
these  men  have  some  evU  design."  They  walked  back, 
telling  the  beads  of  their  rosary.  They  had  said  four 
decades,  when  a  tomahawk  crashed  into  the  brain  of 
Rene,  and  he  died,  uttering  the  name  of  Jesus.^ 

Bressani  (1644),  captured  by  the  Iroquois,  marched 
chained  in  their  procession,  whereof  the  banner  was 
the  head  of  a  Huron  Catholic,  whose  heart  he  saw  torn 


'  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  iii.  139. 
'  Marie  de  I'lncarnation,  p.  148. 
'  Shea's  Narrative  of  the  Captivity  of  Jogues. 
E 


66  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

from  the  body  to  be  eaten  in  bravado — marched  fear- 
lessly in  that  dread  procession,  for  "  I  was  filled,"  ho 
says,  "  with  confidence  in  the  intercession  of  the  Holy 
Virgin."  Six  days  they  advanced  through  the  forest, 
he  being  compelled  to  act  as  their  slave,  fetching  the 
wood  and  water  for  the  night  encampments,  cooking 
for  his  savage  captors,  and  repaid  by  blows.  He  slept, 
tied  to  a  tree,  uncovered,  in  the  night  air  of  the  early 
northern  April.  Arrived  at  the  village,  they  prepared 
him  for  running  the  gauntlet,  by  splitting  his  hand  up 
between  the  ring  and  little  fingers,  and  then  beat  him 
as  he  moved  between  their  barbarous  lines.  They 
forced  him  then  to  dance  and  sing  for  Jiours  ;  they  ran 
splinters  into  his  flesh,  and  burned  him  with  brands  ; 
they  covered  sharp  points  with  hot  ashes,  and  com- 
pelled him  to  walk  thereon ;  they  tore  out  all  the 
nails  of  his  fingers  with  pincers  or  with  savage  teeth. 
One  night  they  would  tear  out  a  nail,  the  next  cut  off 
or  burn  off  a  joint ;  and  all  this,  and  more  than  this, 
lasted  for  a  month.  His  wounds  swarmed  with  worms  ; 
he  "  said  unto  rottenness,  Thou  art  my  father ;  unto 
worms.  Ye  are  my  mother  and  my  sisters."  ^ 

Finally  the  sentence  was  passed,  that  what  life  lin- 
gered in  him  it  should  be  burned  out  at  the  stake  ;  and 
then  he  says :  "  I  prepared  my  soul  and  commended 
myself  unto  the  Mother  of  Mercy,  who  is  in  truth  the 
Mother  most  amiable,  most  admirable,  most  powerful, 
most  clement,  and  the  consoler  of  the  afflicted.     She, 

1  Putrediui  disi :  Pater  meus  es ;  mater  mea  et  soror  mea  venni- 
bus. — Job  xvii.  14. 


IN  NoETH  Ameeica.  67 

after  God,  was  tlie  only  refuge  of  me,  a  poor  sinner, 
abandoned  by  all  creatures  in  a  strange  land."  ^  Then 
they  reversed  the  death  sentence,  "For  such,"  he 
sajs  again,  "  was  the  will  of  God  and  of  the  Yirgin 
Mother.  To  her  I  owe  not  my  life  only,  but  the 
strength  to  support  my  pain."  It  was  the  Hollanders 
of  New  York  who  saved  him  at  length,  pui'chasing  him 
from  the  barbarians  for  some  forty  dollars,  and  he 
says  :  "  I  sang  my  coming  out  of  Egypf  on  the  19th  of 
August  in  the  Octave  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Vii-gin. 
whom  I  consider  the  bestower  of  my  freedom." 

Well,  this  at  least  was  enough  for  one  man ;  he 
surely  left  his  mission.  On  the  contrary,  the  same 
year  saw  him  on  his  way  to  the  Hurons.  Four  times 
he  made  that  voyage,  and  thrice  he  fell  into  the  same 
bloody  hands,  and  was  covered  anew  with  wounds,  yet 
God  and  Our  Lady  dehvered  him  out  of  all.  What 
wonder  that  those  mutUated  hands  can  record  amonsr 
the  reverers  of  Blessed  Mary,  as  the  fruits  of  thirteen 
years,  tivelve  thousand  Indians  ! 

There  was  yet  another  of  these  Jesuits,  the  last  we 
shall  cite  here,  who  came  in  1625,  and  won  the  crimson 
crown  of  martyi-dom  in  1633.  Wlien  he  came  to  the 
Hurons,  he  found  not  a  single  Christian  ;  when  he  left 
them  for  the  eternal  glory,  they  numbered  eight  thou- 
sand. It  was  the  noble  Jean  de  Breboeuf — the  heroic, 
impassioned  servant  of  Mary,     It  was  he  who  "  once 


Bressani,  Relation,  pp.  116-189. 
»  In  exitu  Israel  de  ^gypto,  domus  Jacob  de  populo  barbaro 


Ps.  113 


68  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mart 

iinparadised  in  a  trance,  belield  the  Mother  of  Him 
whose  cross  he  bore,  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  virgins, 
in  the  beatitudes  of  heaven." ' 

This  was  his  vow  :  "  What  shall  I  render  to  Thee,  O 
my  Lord  Jesus,  for  all  that  I  have  received  from  Thee  ? 
I  will  accept  Thy  chahce ;  I  will  call  upon  Thy  name. 
And  now  I  vow,  in  presence  of  Thine  Eternal  Father, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  presence  of  Thy  most  holy 
Mother ;  before  the  angels,  the  apostles,  and  the  mar- 
tyrs, my  sainted  fathers,  Ignatius  and  Francis  Xavier, 
that  if,  in  Thy  mercy,  Thovi  shalt  ever  offer  unto  me, 
Thy  unworthy  servant,  the  grace  of  martyrdom,  I  will 
not  refuse  it.  So  that  if  any  occasion  to  die  for  Thee 
occur,  I  promise  not  to  shim  it  (imless  Thy  greater 
glory  so  demand),  and  even  to  receive  the  mortal  blow 
with  joy.  Now,  from  this  hour,  I  offer  unto  Thee,  with 
all  my  will,  O  Thou  my  Jesus,  my  body,  my  blood,  my 
soul,  so  that,  by  Thy  permission,  I  may  die  for  Thee 
who  hast  deigned  to  die  for  me.  So  let  me  live  that  I 
may  merit  such  a  death !  So,  Lord,  will  I  accept 
Thy  chaUce  and  invoke  Thy  name,  0  Jesus,  Jesus, 
Jesus  !"^ 

St.  Louis,  St,  Mary's,  and  Conception  were  attacked 
by  a  thousand  Iroquois  in  the  winter  of  1649.  Among 
the  prisoners  taken  was  John  de  Breboeuf,  who,  when 
he  saw  the  stake  destined  for  his  torture,  kissed  it 
with  respect.  So  earnestly  he  exhorted  his  compan- 
ions to  be  firm,  that  the  brutal  savages  cut  off  his  hps 

'  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  iii.  124 
"  Relation  de  Bressani,  p.  260. 


IN  North  AiiERicA.  69 

and  tongue.  Continuing  still  his  exliortation  by  signs, 
tlie}'  gave  him  the  first  preference  in  the  torture. 
"  Thou  wert  wont,"  they  said  to  him,  "  to  tell  others 
that  the  more  they  suffered  here,  the  greater  would  be 
their  recompense  in  the  new  Hfe.  Now  thank  us,  for 
we  only  brighten  thy  crown."  Then,  having  made  a 
necklace  of  red-hot  hatchet-heads,  they  hang  it  about 
his  neck.  In  mockery  of  baptism,  they  poured  boiling 
water  upon  his  head.  They  pierced  his  hands  and 
breast  with  red-hot  irons  ;  they  tore  his  flesh  away  in 
strips ;  they  cut  his  scalp  into  the  semblance  of  a 
crown,  then  tore  it  from  his  head.  He  was  a  strong 
man,  using  to  say  of  himself,  "  I  am  only  an  ox  (hceiif), 
fit  for  labor;"  yet  he  died  in  three  hours — while  his 
comrade,  Gabriel  Lallemant,  young,  delicate,  and  frail, 
lived  seventeen.  Yet  Ids  first  torture  was,  to  be 
stripped,  enveloped  from  head  to  foot  in  bark,  satu- 
rated with  rosin,  and  set  on  fire.* 

But  we  must  turn  elsewhere  and  look  for  other 
"  Marians,"  as  the  pagan  savages  called  them,  saying 
only  with  the  historian  of  the  missions  -^  "  Fain  would 
we  pause  to  follow  each  in  his  labors,  his  trials,  and 
his  toils ;  recount  their  dangers  from  the  heathen 
Huron,  the  skulking  Iroquois,  the  frozen  river,  hunger, 
cold,  and  accident ;  to  show  Garnier  wrestling  with 
the  floating  ice,  through  which  he  sunk,  on  an  errand 
of  mercy ;  Chabanel  struggling  on  for  years  in  a  mis- 


'  Bancroft:  History  of  the  United  States,  iii.  140. 
"  Shea:  History  of  Catholic  Missions,  p.  183. 


70  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

siou  from  wliicli  every  fibre  of  liis  frame  shrank  witL. 
loatliing ;  Cliaumonot  compiling  his  Indian  grammar 
on  the  frozen  earth ;  or  the  heroic  Breboeuf,  paralyzed 
b}'^  a  fall,  with  his  collar-bone  broken,  creeping  on  his 
hands  and  feet  along  the  frozen  road,  and  sleeping, 
unsheltered,  on  the  snow,  when  the  very  trees  were 
sphtting  with  cold." 

But  we  must  turn  to  other  devout  children,  whose 
fihal  love  has  taught  this  country  affection  and  devo- 
tion to  the  Mother  of  Divine  Grace.  In  the  great 
world  of  Paris,  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  had  few 
clients  more  sincerely  devoted  to  her  than  the  secre- 
tary of  the  king,  Henry  the  Fourth — Jacques  Olier  de 
Yerneuil,  the  trusted  minister  of  his  sovereign,  the 
friend  of  Saint  Francis  of  Sales.  His  wife,  Mary 
Dobe,  Lady  of  Ivoi,  was  worthy  of  the  respect  which 
this  holy  bishop  bore  her,  of  her  husband,  and  of  her 
son.  To  them,  among  other  children,  God  gave  a  boy 
who,  from  his  earlier  years,  belonged  to  Mary — Jean 
Olier  de  Verneuil,  founder  of  Montreal.  Even  in  child- 
hood, whatever  recalled  the  holy  Virgin,  or  had  any 
reference  to  her,  caused  Joy  or  gratitude  in  him.  He 
was  glad  to  have  been  born  of  a  mother  named  Mary, 
in  a  street  called  Our  Lady  of  Silver.* 

In  his  studies,  he  counted  more  upon  the  assistance 
of  the  Throne  of  Wisdom  (Sedes  Sapientia')  than  on 
his  own  abilities,  though   these  were   naturally  very 

■  Notre-dame-d' Argent — a  name  given  to  the  street  called  Roi  de 
Sidle,  because  of  a  silver  statue  placed  at  its  corner  by  Francis  I.,  in 
expiation  of  some  sacrilege  committed  there. 


IN  NoETH  America.  71 

great.  He  says  himself  that  lie  could  learn  nothmg 
without  "  Hail,  Mary  !"  and  others  have  recorded  that 
the  devotion  with  which  he  used  to  repeat  this  angehc 
prayer  moYed  them  to  tears.  He  undertook  nothing, 
indeed,  without  fii-st  going  to  that  dear  Lady  and  ask- 
ing her  to  command  liim  to  do  it,  as  a  mother  her  son. 
When  clad  anew,  when  the  new  hat  or  coat  was  given 
him,  he  never  felt  at  ease  until  he  had  gone  to  dedi- 
cate them,  and  himself  in  them,  to  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
and  to  implore  her  for  the  grace,  never,  so  long  as 
he  should  wear  them,  to  offend  her  Son.  "I  have 
thought,"  he  said,  in  later  life,  "  sometimes,  that  this 
practice  might  be  a  feebleness  or  a  folly.  But,  when  I 
omitted  it,  my  clothes  were  sure  to  come  to  speedy 
ruin  the  first  day  or  the  next.  So  I  took  these  acci- 
dents as  a  visible  punishment,  sent  to  correct  my  fault, 
or  to  warn  me  not  to  fall  into  it  again." ' 

Grown  up,  he  entered  the  gay  world  at  Paris,  as  his 
birth  and  rank  seemed  for  the  time  to  require  of  him ; 
and  even  there  his  j^atroness  preserved  him  from  its 
evil.  He  conceived  an  ambition  to  be  profoundly 
learned,  and  set  out  to  Eome  to  gratify  it.  But  an 
affection  of  the  eyes  threatened  him  with  total  loss  of 
sight ;  so,  instead  of  staying  at  Kome  to  study,  he 
went  to  Loretto  to  pray  ;  and  there  Saint  Mary  healed 
him,  and  showed  him  also  that  he  was  to  be  her  faith- 
ful and  devoted  servant.  In  1633,  accordingly,  he  re- 
ceived  the   holy  order  of  the  priesthood,  and,  aftei 

1  Vie  de  M.  Olier.    Paris,  1844,  p.  5. 


72  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y,  Mary 

three  montlis'  spiritual  retreat,  said  liis  first  Mass  in 
the  church  of  our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel.  To  her  his 
devotion  increased  daily.  Convinced  that  to  her,  after 
God,  he  owed  all  the  graces  he  had  received,  he  chose 
her  for  his  august  Lady  and  Queen ;  he  held  all  his 
possessions  as  a  grant  from  her ;  used  them  only  in 
her  name  ;  made  a  vow  of  perpetual  servitude  to  her ; 
and,  with  the  antique  symbohsm  of  his  day,  wore 
round  his  neck  a  silver  chain  to  show  that  he  was 
bondman  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven.  From  that  day  he 
never  refused,  when  in  his  power,  to  give  whatever  was 
demanded  in  the  name  of  Mary. 

He  made  no  journey  without  first  going  to  the 
church  of  Notre  Dame  to  ask  his  Blessed  Mother's 
benediction.  When  struck  with  apoplexy,  his  reason 
shaken,  his  sight  and  hearing  gone,  only  two  sounds 
seemed  to  reach  his  sense — the  names  of  Jesus  and  of 
Mary.  At  the  first,  a  bright  smile  gave  intelligence  to 
his  half-dead  face ;  at  the  second,  his  paralyzed  Hps 
muijmured  "Mother."  When  the  idea  of  the  grand 
Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice  was  in  his  mind,  he  went  as 
usual  to  Notre  Dame,  and  there  our  Lady  showed  him 
■visibly  the  plan  for  the  proposed  edifice.  Then  he 
commenced  that  sacred  work,  and  the  corner-stone 
was  laid  in  the  Octave  of  the  Yirgin's  nativity.  The 
works  went  on  until  the  winter  interrupted  them. 
They  ceased  on  the  Immaculate  Conception ;  they 
were  recommenced  in  the  Octave  of  the  Purification. 

He  sang  the  Mass  de  Beata,  with  the  keys  in  his 
bosom,  ofi'ering  them  to  Our  Lady  as  the  owner  of  the 


IN  NoKTH  America.  73 

house.  "  For  lierein,"  he  says,  "  I  trust  that  the  holy 
name  of  Mary  will  be  blessed  forever.  AU  my  desire 
is  to  imprint  it  deeply  on  the  hearts  of  our  brethren ; 
for  Mary  is  our  counsellor  and  president,  our  treasurer, 
our  princess,  our  queen,  and  our  all."  In  the  court, 
facing  the  portal,  he  placed  a  grand  statue  of  the 
Virgin,  seated,  and  holding  the  infant  Jesus  in  her 
arms.  He  refused  to  be  called  the  founder  of  the 
house.  " Fundavit  earn  Altissimus"  he  said ;  " it  is 
Jesus  in  Mary  who  is  our  founder ;"  and  he  caused  the 
monogram  of  Mary  to  be  engraved  on  the  silver, 
wrought  in  the  iron-work,  marked  upon  the  linen,  for 
the  house  was  hers. 

Olier  furnishes  the  idea,  and  Le  Brun  paints  the 
ceihng.  It  is  the  coronation  of  Mary  Queen  of  Heaven 
by  the  hands  of  the  Father  Eternal ;  while  below,  the 
Church  militant,  represented  by  the  Council  of  Ephe- 
sus,  hail  her  with  cries  of  exultation,  and  proclaim  her 
title,  de  fide,  of  Mother  of  God.*  Two  other  pictures 
from  the  same  hand  adorned  the  chapel — Mary,  the 
channel  of  God's  grace,  and  the  Visitation.  In  that 
house  the  first  devotion  was  to  the  interior  life  of 
Jesus ;  the  second  was  to  Mary.  And  all  this  love  and 
devotion  to  the  Queen  of  Saints  was,  by  Father  Oher's 
means,  sent  to  consecrate  the  swift  waters  and  im- 
memorial forest-lands  of  North  America.  Before  treat- 
ing this  point,  we  cannot  leave  the  holy  founder  of  St. 
Sulpice  without  mentioning  his  death.     His  last  years 

'  Vie  de  M.  OUer,  p.  281. 
4 


74  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mart 

were  united  to  the  Passion  of  liis  beloved  Lord  by  a 
complication  of  disorders,  especially  the  agonizing 
one  of  gravel.  In  its  acutest  attacks,  when  the  soul 
was  almost  driven  out  of  him  by  physical  anguish,  he 
uttered  no  complaints,  but  lay  still,  gently  smiling, 
offering  his  pain  to  Jesus  crucified,  and  murmui'ing, 

OLove!  OLove!" 

He  rendered  up  his  soul  into  the  hands  of  Christ 
ind  his  dear  Mother  on  Holy  Saturday,  March  26, 
1657. 

It  was  in  1636  that  the  Company  of  Montreal  was 
founded  "for  the  conversion  of  the  savages  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  Catholic  rehgion  in  Canada." 
Five  priests,  a  cardinal  (Richeheu),  a  duchess,  two 
dukes,  twelve  other  nobles,  and  a  simple  Sister  of 
Charity,  formed  the  association;  and,  for  four  years, 
they  labored  faithfully  to  bring  their  scheme  into  suc- 
cessful operation.  Their  plan  was  this :  To  build, 
upon  the  Isle  of  Montreal,  a  town  which  should  be  at 
once  a  home  for  the  missions,  a  defence  against  the 
savages,  a  centre  of  commerce  for  the  neighboring 
people,  which  should  be  consecrated  to  the  most  holy 
Virgin,  and  be  called  Yille-Marie. 

So,  when  all  was  ready,  on  the  morrow  of  the  Feast 
of  Our  Lady's  Purification,  the  associates  assembled  in 
the  cathedral  church  of  Notre  Dame.  M.  Olier  offered 
up  the  perfect  Sacrifice  at  the  Virgin's  altar,  whereat 
all  the  laics  communed,  while  those  of  the  Company 
who  were  priests  said  Mass  at  other  altars  with  the 
same   intention,    "feiwently  imploring   the    Queen  of 


IN  North  America.  75 

Angels  to  bless  their  enterprise,  and  to  take  the  Isle 
of  Montreal  under  her  holy  and  most  especial  pro- 
tection.'" 

The  collection  after  this  ceremony  -was  two  hundred 
thousand  francs.  The  commandant  was  Paul  de 
Chaumedaj,  lord  of  Maisonneuye,  a  warrior  who,  for 
twenty  years,  had  served  his  king  with  honor,  the 
Blessed  Yirgin  with  devotion,  having  made  for  her 
sake  a  vow  of  perpetual  chastity,  never  omitting,  for 
any  excuse,  the  recitation  of  the  chaplet,  and  the  httle 
office.  Under  him,  then,  they  start  at  length  from 
Eochelle,  cross  safely,  wmter  at  Quebec,  and,  on  tho 
17th  of  Mary's  own  month  of  May,  arrive  at  Montreal. 
They  build  a  chapel  of  bark,  erect  an  altar,  and  offer 
for  the  first  time  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  On  that 
day  they  reserved  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  from 
that  day  it  has  always  been  reserved  in  Ville-Marie. 
"Henceforth,"  says  the  American  historian,  "the 
hearth  of  the  sacred  fires  of  the  Wyandots  was  con- 
secrated to  the  Yirgin.'"* 

The  colony  does  well,  only  it  should  not  depend  en- 
tirely upon  France  for  clergy.  The  hospital  sisters 
have  settled  here ;  the  Congregation  of  Our  Lady  is 
estabhshed  expressly  for  the  place ;  there  must  be  a 
seminary.  The  same  devotion  which  built  St.  Sulpice 
for  Mary  in  Paris,  builds  the  new  St.  Sulpice  three 
thousand    miles   away  in   the   colony  that  bears  her 


'  Vie  de  Soeur  Marguerite  Bourgeoys.  Ville-Marie,  1818,  p.  21. 
"^  Bancroft,  iii.  138.  * 


76  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

name.  The  motlier  house  furnishes  priests — Messrs. 
de  Quayhis,  de  Gallinet,  Dallet,  and  Louart,  to  begin 
with.  In  1G63,  the  Company,  whose  only  object  was 
the  conversion  of  the  savages,  resigns,  into  the  hands 
of  the  Sulpicians,  all  seigneurial  rights  over  the  island, 
titles  confirmed,  a  century  later,  by  the  British  govern- 
ment, after  the  conquest  of  Canada.  And  thus  it  is 
that  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  is  still  the  sovereign  lady 
of  Montreal. 

These  Sulpicians  also  have  their  crimson  records — 
their  dealings  with  the  fierce  and  wily  Iroquois.  Two 
only,  for  the  present,  wiU  we  mention.  When  M.  Olier 
first  proposed  this  mission  to  his  ecclesiastics,  all 
eagerly  offered  themselves  :  none  were  more  zealous 
than  Father  Le  Maitre.  "  Send  me,"  he  said  ;  "  I  will 
promise  earnest  labor ;  I  will  go  to  the  Indians,  even 
in  their  own  country."  "You  wiU  not  have  the 
trouble,"  answered  the  servant  of  God;  "they  will 
come  to  look  for  you,  and  will  so  smround  you  that 
you  shall  not  escape  from  their  hands."  Two  years 
after  the  death  of  M.  Oher,  Father  Le  Maitre,  then  in 
Canada,  w\as  surrounded  and  beheaded  by  the  Iro- 
quois, on  the  Feast  of  the  Decollation  of  Saint  John 
the  Baptist.  Father  Yignal  followed  him  to  heaven 
by  the  same  painful  path. 

On  the  scant  records  that  we  have  been  able  to 
procure,  we  read  the  names  of  twenty-five  seminary 
priests  in  less  than  forty  years— Salagnac  de  Fenelon, 
on  the  north  Ontario  shores;  among  the  Iroquois, 
de  Belmont  in  the  Indian  school  of  the   Mountain; 


IN  NoKTH  Amekica.  77 

JBuisson  de  St.  Come,  going  far  south  to  the  Natchez. 
The  children  of  Ignatius  and  Xavier  were  the  adven- 
turers and  pioneers ;  for  them  earth  had  no  resting- 
place,  death  no  terrors ;  their  time  of  labor  and  its 
field  were  while  and  wherever  their  hps  could  proclaim 
the  name  of  Jesus ;  their  rest  was  only  in  Fatria.  The 
ecclesiastics  of  Jean-Jacques  OHer  were  a  settled 
colony  to  educate,  cirLlize,  train,  and  keep  the  con- 
verted. The  Jesuit  furnished  the  element  of  conquest ; 
the  Suli3ician  that  of  conservatism. 

Side  by  side  with  the  Jesuit  of  Quebec  labored  the 
patient  hospital  sisters,  founded  by  the  bounty  of  the 
Duchess  d'Aiguillon,  and  the  Ursulines  of  Mary  of  the 
Incarnation.  So,  at  Ville-Marie,  we  have  other  hos- 
pitaHeres,  endowed  by  another  pious  and  noble  lady, 
the  Duchess  de  BuUion,  and  sister  Marguerite  Bour- 
geoys,  and  her  "  Congregation  of  Our  Lady." 

It  is  most  interesting  to  trace  the  manner  in  which 
Mary  calls  and  inspires  her  servants,  so  various,  yet  so 
effective  are  the  means  she  uses.  One  has  simply  a 
restless  feeling,  searches  repose  everywhere,  and  finds 
it  suddenly  at  the  first  purpose  of  seK-consecration  to 
Mary.  Another  is  summoned  in  a  moment,  when 
thinking  of  nothing  less  than  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
by  a  voice,  or  an  apparition,  or  an  accident,  as  Father 
Louart,  the  second  priest  of  Montreal,  could  have 
testified.  He  was  destined  for  the  world ;  he  was  on 
the  point  of  marrying,  when  on  the  Feast  of  the  As- 
sumption of  Our  Lady,  he  strayed  by  chance  into  a 
church  in  Paris.     The  preacher  was  not  well  prepared 


78  Deyotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

— did  not  get  along  well  on  tlie  subject  of  the  day,  and 
went  wandering  about  in  bis  discourse  until  be  found 
a  more  famibar  topic.  Tbis  happened  to  be,  tbe  ne- 
cessity of  being  sure  of  your  vocation  before  entering 
upon  any  state  of  bfe.  "Whether  he  dealt  more  hap- 
pily with  this  subject  than  with  the  one  he  had  left  for 
it,  we  are  not  informed ;  but  he  set  the  mind  of  the 
young  Louart  at  work;  the  vocation  for  matrimony 
was  found  not  to  exist,  and  a  few  years  after  saw  the 
fiance  cure  in  Yille-Marie.  Different  illustrations  are 
found  in  the  cases  of  the  two  holy  women  who  came 
first  to  the  wild  island  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  there  to 
represent  the  tender  pity  and  care  of  Mary  Pruden- 
tissima,  Mary  Salus  Infirmorum. 

A  young  lady  of  Langres,  Mademoiselle  Jeanne 
Manse,  passing  her  Hfe  quietly  among  her  friends  in 
the  ordinary  routine  of  a  pious  girl's  bfe,  is  suddenly 
struck  with  the  idea  of  consecrating  herseK  to  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Blessed  Mary  in  New  France.  What  New 
France  is  she  has  no  idea,  or,  at  least,  a  very  confused 
and  indistinct  one.  It  is  a  notion  from  some  travel- 
ler's story,  think  her  friends.  Her  confessor  is  con- 
sulted ;  he  has  never  heard  of  Montreal,  and  he  treats 
his  penitent  as  a  visionary ;  but,  as  she  persists  in  her 
notions,  he  writes  to  Paris  for  information.  The  an- 
swers confirm  the  purpose  of  Mademoiselle  Manse ; 
she  goes  to  Paris,  is  introduced  to  the  Duchess  de 
BulHon,  a  great  friend  of  the  Montreal  scheme ;  the 
vocation  is  tried,  ascertained,  and  followed.  "I  will 
go,"    she   said ;  "  give   me,  madame,  a  letter  to   the 


IN  North  America.  79 

directors  of  tlie  Company."  The  pious  duchess  gives 
her  a  note  to  M.  de  la  Dauversiere,  and  a  purse  of 
twenty  thotisand  livres  for  expenses.  She  was  warned 
that,  in  all  probabihty,  the  walls  of  Montreal  must  be 
cemented  in  blood  ;  that  there  were  tribes  of  hostile 
savages  who  would  oppose,  perhaps  destroy,  the 
colony ;  that  she  would  be  alone  to  care  for  the  sick 
and  wounded :  but  when  these  representations  only 
increased  her  zeal  and  fervor,  the  good  man  blessed 
God,  and  bade  her  go  in  His  name.  And  when  he  did 
that,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  that  Hotel  of  God 
(Hotel  Dieu),  or  Hospital  St.  Joseph,  where  now  some 
forty  nuns  and  fifteen  novices  are  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  Christ  in  His  poor. 

They  arrived  in  the  middle  of  the  month  of  Mary ; 
the  land  was  assigned ;  the  gold  of  the  good  duchess 
was  exchanged  for  wood  and  labor ;  a  house  and 
chapel  rose  up  swiftly,  and,  on  the  15th  of  August, 
1642,  it  was  opened  to  celebrate  the  Feast  of  the  As- 
sumption of  St.  Mary  the  Yirgin.  As  the  colony  grew, 
the  number  of  its  sick  augmented  also ;  the  house  was 
found  too  small,  the  labor  too  great  for  any  one  per- 
son, however  zealous.  A  new  gift  of  sixty  thousand 
livres,  by  Madame  de  Bullion,  enlarged  the  edifice, 
and  recruits  from  France  brought  help  to  Mademoi- 
selle Manse.  It  was  de  Maisonneuve,  the  command- 
ant of  Yille-Marie,  and  the  sworn  servant  of  its 
Patroness,  who  went  to  look  for  hospitaheres.  He 
found  eager  candidates  for  the  mission  among  the 
sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  in  la  Fleche,  from  whom  three 


80  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

were  selected  and  sent  to  found  their  order'  in  Amer- 
ica. And  now,  what  more  have  we  to  say  of  this 
lady  ?  Her  arm,  broken  by  a  fall,  and  badly  treated, 
became  hopelessly  paralyzed.  She  was  patient,  but 
she  was  a  burden  to  others ;  so  she  resolved  to  seek 
rehef  from  God  through  her  holy  and  gentle  Mother 
Mary.  Every  one  in  Montreal  had,  of  coui'se,  great 
veneration  for  M.  Oher ;  so,  full  of  devotion  and  simple 
faith,  she  made  a  joui-ney  to  France,  and,  at  his  tomb, 
she  prayed  for  such  a  restoration  only  as  might  enable 
her  to  aid  herseK,  that  she  might  be  no  longer  a  bur- 
den to  others ;  and  her  arm  was  made  whole."  She 
returned  to  her  labors,  and  died  in  1673.  There  is  no 
more  to  tell.  Hospital  sisters  have  no  stories.  Their 
whole  lives  are  beautiful  praises  to  the  gracious  God, 
and  are  written  only  in  His  Book  of  Life  on  high. 


'  They  were  still  Beculars.    Pope  Alexander  tlie  Seventh,  erected 
tliem  into  a  religious  order  in  1666. 
'  Vie  de  M.  Olier,  p.  394. 


m  North  Ajvierica.  81 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Marguerite  Bourgeoys  and  the  Congregation  of  Our  Lady. 

The  hospital  sister  practices  the  virtues  of  Mary, 
and  dies  adventureless.  But  Mary's  servants  are  of 
all  kinds.  There  are  adventures  in  the  life  of  Mar- 
guerite Bourgeoys — more  than  she  sought,  faithful, 
loving  soul,  as  she  was,  but  not  more  than  God  saw, 
were  necessary  for  her  perfection.  She  did  not  look 
for  roses,  nor  did  she  find  them ;  but  her  life  is  itself 
a  rose,  offered  and  accepted  on  Our  Lady's  altar.  If 
the  old  style  of  writing  in  conceits  were  in  vogue,  her 
life  is  one  that  could  almost  be  composed  so  that 
every  third  word  should  be  "  Mary."  That  word  was 
in  her  mouth  and  in  her  heart,  from  the  time  her  lips 
first  could  frame  it,  untU  they  laid  her  head,  whitened 
by  ninety  winters,  beneath  the  snows  of  Canada.  She 
was  born  in  1620,  this  Margarita,  this  pearl  of  the 
Queen  of  Virgins.  She  was  called,  in  religion.  Mar- 
guerite of  the  Holy  Sacrament.  She  was  the  founder 
of  that  society  known  as  Daughters  of  the  Congrega- 
tion of  Our  Lady.' 

It  was  in  the  city  of  Troyes,  in  Champagne,  that 
Marguerite  was  born.  Her  parents,  not  notable  for 
rank  or    wealth,   were    distinguished    for    something 

*  Vie  de  M.  OHer,  p.  394. 
p  4* 


82  Devotion  to  the  1>.  Y.  Maky 

better — earnestness  in  the  practice  of  religiou.  This 
was  the  best  heritage  they  bequeathed  their  daughter ; 
it  was  the  only  portion  of  their  bequests  that  she  re- 
tained. Her  childhood  was  distinguished,  quite  early, 
by  a  certain  grave  piety,  which  was  always  character- 
istic of  her  in  after-Ufe,  and  by  zeal  in  the  confraterni- 
ties and  rosary  societies  to  which  she  belonged.  It 
was  at  a  feast  of  our  Blessed  Lady  that  she  first 
caught  a  glimpse  of  her  vocation.  It  was  the  festival 
of  the  Rosary,  and  Marguerite  had  gone  to  join  in  the 
procession,  which  it  is  the  custom  of  the  Dominicans 
"to  make  on  this  day.  On  this  occasion,  Anno  1640,  so 
gi'eat  was  the  throng  of  people,  that  the  pomp  was 
forced  from  its  usual  neighborhood  into  the  larger 
streets,  and  passed  before  the  grand  cathedral  church 
of  Notre  Dame.  A  statue  of  the  Holy  Mother  of  God 
adorned  the  grand  portal,  and  Marguerite  saw  it,  as 
she  thought,  at  least,  environed  with  lustre  ;  while  the 
eyes,  full  of  kindly  intelligence,  appeared  to  look  wist- 
fully at  her.  Imagination  or  reality,  Marguerite  re- 
ceived it  as  an  invitation  to  consecrate  herseK  to  God, 
under  the  auspices  of  St.  Mary.  And,  from  that  mo- 
ment, all  the  innocent  little  fineries  of  dress,  in  which, 
like  other  girls,  she  had  hitherto  indulged,  were  laid 
aside;  and  she  thought  only,  henceforward,  of  how  she 
might  acomphsh  her  self-dedication. 

At  first  she  tried  to  gain  admission  into  the  convent 
of  our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel;  but  God  had  other 
work  for  her,  and  she  was  baffled  in  this  attempt, 
although  she  persisted  for  years — although  it  became 


IN  North  Ajvierica.  83 

the  strongest  desire  of  lier  heart.  There  was  another 
order  of  nuns  whom  she  frequented  in  Troyes,  those 
of  Notre  Dame,  devoted  to  instruction,  and  thej  had 
under  their  supervision  a  number  of  young  persons, 
united  by  an  agreement,  without  vow,  hving  each  in 
her  own  family,  and  visiting  and  instructing  those  who 
could  not  attend  the  classes  of  the  nuns.  These  were 
called  the  "  outside  Congregation  of  our  Lady,"  and 
into  it  the  members  received  our  Marguerite  with 
gratitude.  This  was  her  novitiate.  Here  she  prac- 
tised all  those  virtues  of  holy  poverty  and  self-sacri- 
fice, charity  and  devotion,  with  which,  afterwards,  she 
made  America  illustrious.  So,  in  the  course  of  time, 
her  saintly,  mortified  life  won  great  grace  for  her. 
Her  heart  was  always  filled  with  fervor  when  she  ap- 
proached the  Holy  Communion ;  nay,  such  was  her 
devotion,  that  our  Lord  vouchsafed  to  show  himself 
to  her  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  as  a  little  child 
incomparably  beautiful.  It  was  the  Feast  of  Our 
Lady's  Assumption,  the  chief  festival  of  her  congre- 
gation. 

Among  the  nuns  of  Notre  Dame  was  a  sister  of  that 
pious  noble,  the  commandant  of  Ville-Marie.  Another 
sister,  equally  devoted,  Madame  de  Cuilly,  remained  in 
the  world.  Of  course,  both  were  interested  in  their 
brother's  far-away  colony  in  America ;  they  had 
pledged  themselves  to  use  every  efi'ort  to  procure  for 
him  some  rehgious,  for  the  instruction  of  the  young 
people,  and,  for  a  long  time,  many  of  the  nuns  of 
Notre  Dame  hoped  to  be  sent.     They  had  given  to 


8J:  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

M.  de  Maisonneuve  a  picture  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
wliereon  they  had  written,  in  testimony  of  their  prom- 
ise and  desire,  these  hnes  : 

"  0  Holy  Mother  of  our  God,  Virgin  of  loyal  heart, 
Keep  for  us,  of  thy  royal  mount  [Montreal],  a  consecrated  part." 

Naturally,  then,  the  good  sisters  talked  much  about 
Canada,  and  Marg-uerite  Bourgeoys  listened.  For,  by 
this  time,  she  had  won  the  respect  and  love  of  the 
whole  community,  and  had  been  offered  admission  to 
the  Order ;  but  it  was  not  her  vocation — that,  as  far  as 
she  knew  it  yet,  was  to  be  a  Carmehte.  But  de  Maison- 
neuve, arriving  in  France  to  look  for  hospital  sisters 
for  Mademoiselle  Manse,  and  soldiers  for  the  defence 
of  his  colonists,  went,  as  he  ever  did,  to  visit  his  sisters 
at  Troyes.  It  was  in  the  parlor  of  the  convent  at 
Notre  Dame  that  Marguerite  met  him,  and  heard  him 
talk  of  Ville-Marie.  Then  she  knew  at  last  where  her 
vocation  was.  If  she  needed  confirmation,  she  had 
seen  the  commandant  in  a  dream  some  weeks  before 
his  arrival,  and  recognized  him  as  soon  as  she  saw 
him ;  and  when,  in  the  absence  of  the  bishop,  she  went 
to  take  counsel  of  the  vicar-general,  he  told  her,  in  so 
many  words,  that  God  required  her  in  Canada. 

To  know  her  vocation  was  to  follow  it.  She  was 
guardian  of  a  younger  brother  and  sister,  and  she 
arranged  at  once  for  their  education.  She  had  some 
property — she  made  it  over  to  them  and  to  the  poor, 
and  stood  fi-ee  in  the  world.  She  said,  "  I  am  ready ;" 
and  then  came  the  difficulties  and  temptations.     The 


EST  North  Ameeica,  85 

religious,  refused  for  the  present  bj  de  Maisonneuve, 
dissuaded  her  from  going  until  they  could  go  too.  She 
desired  to  have  with  her  a  member  of  that  "  outside 
congregation,"  of  which  she  had  for  some  time  been 
prefect,  a  young  girl,  whose  honor  she  had  saved ;  but 
circumstances  were  inexorable :  only  one  could  be 
taken ;  there  was  employment  only  for  one.  Mar- 
guerite must  stay  or  go  alone — alone,  of  her  sex,  in  a 
ship  filled  with  newly-recruited  soldiers,  and  their 
commander,  whom  she  had  seen  but  once.  Not  an 
easy  obstacle  this  to  surmount. 

She  has  recourse  to  her  confessor.  "  Go  freely,"  he 
says  ;  "  M.  de  Maisonneuve  will  be  your  guardian  ;  he 
is  one  of  the  noblest  knights  in  the  court  of  the  Queen 
of  Angels."*  Still,  nature  and  modest  education  are 
powerful ;  Marguerite  yet  hesitates ;  then  the  Blessed 
Virgin  herself  decides.  One  morning,  while  meditating 
in  her  own  chamber,  a  lady,  beautiful,  white-robed, 
surrounded  with  a  halo  of  flashing  yet  tender  light, 
appears  before  her,  and  says  gently  :  "  Go,  Marguerite, 
to  Canada  ;  I  will  not  abandon  thee."  This  settles  the 
matter.  Come  now  what  may,  she  will  be  at  Nantes 
for  the  embarkation  by  the  Feast  of  the  Visitation  of 
St.  Mary.  Many  a  thing  will  come — temptations,  re- 
monstrances, imputations  which  are  the  hardest  for 
women  to  endure,  but  all  useless.  She  quits  Troyes, 
in  the  Octave  of  the  Purification,  for  Paris.     At  Paris 


'  "  C'est  un  des  premiers  chevaliers  de  la  chambre  de  la  Reine  des 
Anges." — Vie  de  Sceur  Marguerite,  p.  /)1. 


86  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

she  is  generally  laughed  at ;  her  uncle  there,  not  shar- 
ing in  the  hilarity,  storms,  argues,  rebukes,  forbids, 
brings  tears  abundantly  and  humble  protestations  of 
affection,  but  no  change  of  purj^ose.  The  provincial 
of  the  Carmelites  begs  her  to  renounce  this  crazy  ad- 
venture— offers  to  procure  her  reception  in  any  Car- 
melite convent  she  prefers.  Here,  then,  is  the  dearest 
wish  of  her  heart  realized  at  last,  and  it  staggers  her 
a  little.  She  i^ays  a  visit  to  the  nearest  church,  and 
comes  back  fixed.  It  is  not  to  Our  Lady  of  Mount 
Carmel  that  she  belongs,  but  to  Our  Lady  of  Yille- 
Marie.  • 

Then  she  makes  up  her  comforts  for  the  voyage. 
These  consist  of  a  crucifix,  a  rosary,  a  book  of  devo- 
tions, and  a  change  of  linen.  She  takes  this  luggage 
in  her  hand,  and  she  starts  for  the  port  of  Nantes. 
Travelling  alone,  she  is  fi'equently  insulted ;  at  Saumur 
and  at  Orleans  she  is  contemptuously  refused  entrance 
at  the  hotels.  One  night  she  passes  in  a  stable,  the 
other  in  a  church.  She  has  a  letter  for  a  merchant  at* 
Nantes,  whom,  on  her  arrival,  she  meets  in  the  street. 
He  gives  her  the  address  of  his  house,  and  promises 
to  follow  thither  shortly.  A  young  man,  going  out 
with  M.  de  Maisonneuve,  insists  upon  carrying  her 
httle  bundle,  and  they  present  themselves  at  the  house 
of  Monsieur  le  Coq.  Madame,  in  person,  opens  the 
door  ;  madame  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  "unco 
good."  She  looks  at  the  poor  young  woman  and  the 
youth  beside  her,  and  shuts  the  door  in  their  faces. 
Marguerite  crosses  over  to  the  church  of  the  Jacobins, 


IN  North  America.  87 

m  time  for  tlie  commencement  of  the  Rosary  proces- 
sion, joins  in  the  ceremony,  and  then  with  renewed 
courage  attempts  the  merchant's  house  again.  This 
time  she  is  soundly  rated  for  her  impudence,  and 
dismissed  with  ignominy.  But,  as  she  turns  away 
patiently,  M.  le  Coq  himself  comes  home,  and  the 
weary  servant  of  Mary  finds  a  shelter  at  last. 

She  reposes  for  a  day  or  two.  By  the  Octave  of 
the  B.  V.  M.  of  Mount  Carmel,  she  is  out  at  sea — not 
in  a  modern  packet-ship,  or  luxurious,  swift-puffing 
steamer,  but  in  the  lumbering  little  transport  of  two 
hundred  years  ago.  In  this  vessel,  sleejjing  upon  a 
pile  of  cordage,  the  nurse  of  the  sick,  the  consoler  of 
the  distressed,  making  the  night  and  morning  prayer, 
the  attendant  upon  a  hundred  soldiers  and  the  crew, 
the  heroic  woman  traversed  the  Atlantic.  When  she 
steadily  refused  to  eat  at  his  table,  M.  de  Maisonneuve 
sent  her  food,  filtered  water  and  wine,  which  she  re- 
ceived gratefully,  and  distributed  among  her  patients. 
She  ate  the  coarse  fare  of  the  ship ;  she  drank,  from  a 
little  leathern  cup,  the  ropy,  unsavory  water  of  the 
common  cask,  and  drank  but  once  a  day — a  habit  she 
preserved  through  all  her  after-Hfe,  from  devotion  to 
our  dear  Lord's  bitter  thirst  upon  the  cross.  In  the 
practice  of  these  virtues,  after  a  journey  of  between 
three  and  four  months,  sister  Marguerite  arrived  at 
Montreal  about  the  Feast  of  Our  Lady's  Presentation, 
1653,  and  then  and  there  began  the  labors  which  knew 
no  rest  for  nearly  half  a  century. 

The  town  of  Ville-Marie  had  few  magnificences  in 


88  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

that  clay.  Witliin  tlie  stockade,  some  fifty  houses ; 
outside  the  walls,  twenty  or  thirty  farms,  and  a  half 
hundred  of  Indian  wigwams — that  was  the  city  of 
Montreal.  But,  smaU  though  it  were,  Marguerite 
could  find  work  enough  in  it.  Scarcely  any  one  of 
those  habitations  faile  to  received  a  daily  visit;  you 
saw  her  everywhere,  if  good  were  to  be  done  there, 
nursing  the  sick,  consohng  the  sorrowful,  instructing 
the  igTiorant,  washing  the  linen  and  mending  the 
clothes  of  the  poor,  as  well  as  giving  away  to  the 
needy  what  others  thought  the  very  necessaries  of  life. 
M.  le  Coq  had  given  her  a  bed,  which  she  had  never 
used  on  board  the  ship.  There  was  a  straw  bed,  a 
mattress,  two  coverlets,  and  a  jdlUow.  In  less  than  a 
week,  one  after  the  other  disappeared,  and  Marguerite 
slept  upon  the  floor  in  the  Canadian  winter.  In  a 
word,  she  "became  an  eye  unto  the  bhnd,  and  feet 
unto  the  lame.  When  the  ear  heard,  then  it  blessed 
her ;  when  the  eye  saw,  it  gave  witness  to  her,  because 
she  delivered  the  poor  that  cried,  the  fatherless,  and 
the  helpless.  The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to 
perish  came  upon  her,  and  she  caused  the  widow's 
heart  to  sing  for  joy." ' 

Above  all,  she   found  her  greatest  pleasure  in  in- 
structing young  girls,  both  French  and  Indians,  in  the 


'  Oculus  fui  coeco  et  pes  claudo.  Auris  audiens  beatificabat  me,  et 
oculus  videns,  testimoniiun  reddebat  milii.  Eo  quod  liberassem 
pauperem  vociferantem  et  pupillum  cui  non  esset  adjutor.  Bene- 
dictio  peritiiri  super  me  veniebat  et  cor  viduae  consolatus  sum. — Job 
xsis. 


m  NoKTH  AiyrERicA.  89 

branches  necessary  for  them,  esi^ecially  in  the  j)rm- 
cii^les  and  practice  of  rehgion.  "  She  inspired  them," 
says  one  of  her  biographers,  '*  with  sentiments  of  love 
and  devotion  towards  the  august  Mother  of  God,  to 
whom  she  was  herself  particularly  devoted.  A  worthy 
coadjutrix  of  M.  de  Maisonneuve,  while  he  was  build- 
ing up  a  material  city  for  Mary,  she  was  estabhshing 
the  spiritual  empire  of  that  Blessed  Mother  in  the 
hearts  of  the  faithful."^  For  four  years  occupied  in 
these  labors,  she  ran  fi*om  house  to  house,  for  as  yet 
no  building  could  be  spared  her  for  a  school.  But  if 
the  commandant  could  give  her  no  building,  he  could 
and  did  give  her  land ;  and  on  this,  thinking  first,  as 
always,  of  St.  Mary,  she  determined  to  build,  not  a 
school,  but  a  chapel  in  her  honor.  Then  she  redoubled 
her  energies,  running  about  to  every  one  in  the  town ; 
and  so,  one  brought  wood,  and  another  stone ;  a  few, 
money;  a  greater  number,  their  stout  arms,  willing 
hearts,  and  mechanical  skill ;  and  thus  the  chapel 
arose,  just  where  now  stands  the  church  of  Our  Lady 
of  Good  Help  (du  Bon-secours). 

But  the  colony  was  growing  large — a  bishop  had 
arrived,  Mgr.  de  Laval  de  Montmorenci — and  Mar- 
guerite felt  that,  if  her  work  was  to  go  forward,  she  must 
have  help.  Mademoiselle  Manse  was  going  to  France 
to  look  for  hospital  sisters,  and  for  rehef  for  her  use- 

'  La  Vie  de  la  Venerable  Soeur  Marguerite  Bourgeoys,  dite  du 
Saint  Sacrament,  Institutrice,  Fondatrice  et  premiere  Superieure  des 
Filles  Seculaires  de  la  Congregation  de  Notre  Dame.  Ville-Marie, 
1818 


90  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

less  arm.     Marguerite  then  could  wait  upon  her,  and 
so  sanctify  the  voyage  itself;    and,  when  arrived  in 
France,  could  gather  some  devoted  souls,  and,  if  it 
were  God's  will,  establish  a  congregation  of  Our  Lady 
in  Yille-Marie.    They  had  a  safe  and  pleasant  passage  ; 
they  visited  together  M.  Olier's  tomb,  and,  together, 
rendered  thanks  to  God  for  the  mercy  extended  to 
Mademoiselle   Manse.     Alone,  as   she    came,   so   she 
goes  back  to  her  native   country,  a   simple   woman, 
without  rank,  wealth,  or  influence,  to  ask  parents  for 
their  daughters,  to  go  to  an  isle  in  a  scarce  explored 
river,  three  thousand  miles  away,  surrounded  by  cruel 
and  hostile  savages,  to  instruct  the  children  of  poor 
colonists  and  Indians  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel 
of  God.     Truly  it  required  some  confidence  to  make 
the  request,  and  more  to  hope   for   a   favorable   re- 
sponse.    But  Marguerite  knew  to  whom  she  looked, 
whom  she  loved  in  her  heart,  whom  she  trusted  in, 
whom  she  had  chosen.'     "I  will  come  back  in  a  year, 
and  successful,"  she  said,  as  she  left  Montreal,  on  the 
Octave  of  the  Yirgin's  Nativity,  1658. 

No  sooner  had  she  arrived  in  Troyes,  than  three  of 
her  old  companions  presented  themselves  to  her  for 
the  mission ;  but  the  father  of  one  of  them,  a  notary, 
wanted  a  little  information  on  the  subject.  "  How  did 
they  live,  for  instance,  in  that  wild  country  ?"  "  They 
had  a  stable,"  said  Marguerite,  "  which  M.  de  Maison- 


'  Regnum  mundi  et  omnem  ornatum  sseculi  contempsi  propter 
amorem  Domini  mei  Jesu  Christi,  quern  vidi,  quern  amavi,  in  quern 
credidi,  quern  dilexi. — Com.  uon  Virg. 


IN  NoETH  America.  91 

neuve  liad  given  them,  and  whicli  onlj  wanted  some 
repairs  to  make  a  residence  of  it."  The  notary  wished 
to  know  what  inducements  were  offered  to  those  who 
should  inhabit  this  fine  lodging  ?  "  Troubles,  humih- 
ations,  and  labors,"  answered  Marguerite.  "  Was  it 
proposed  to  support  life  exclusively  upon  these?" 
asked  the  notary.  "  Oh,  no ;  she  would  insure  them 
bread  and  soup,  and,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  that 
was  enough."  The  tears  arose  in  the  old  man's  eyes. 
"  You  shall  have  my  daughter,"  he  said,  "  provided 
you  accept  a  dowry  with  her."  Marguerite  thanked 
him,  in  Our  Lady's  name,  for  the  former,  but  refused 
money  upon  any  conditions.  At  length,  with  five  re- 
cruits, she  retiu'ns  to  America  and  her  stable  in  Isle 
Mont-Eoyal. 

"  It  was  a  stone  building,  this  stable,"  she  tells  us, 
"  about  twenty-five  feet  square,  and  had  long  been  a 
retreat  for  animals  of  every  sort.  But  I  had  a  chimney 
buUt,  and  got  it  cleaned ;  so  that  we  could  lodge  there 
the  children  whom  the  Indians  gave  us,  as  well  as  hold 
our  schools.  As  for  us,  there  was  a  sort  of  dove-cot, 
or  garret,  above,  where,  until  now,  pigeons  had  been 
bred,  and  of  this  I  made  our  dormitory  and  com- 
munity-room, although  it  was  rather  inconvenient  of 
approach,  the  only  access  being  by  a  ladder  outside."  * 
Yet,  in  this  establishment  they  hved,  taught  their 
schools,  guarded  young  emigi'ant  gu-ls  who  came  from 
France — once  as  many  as  eighteen — and  trained  their 

*  Vie  de  Marguerite  Boiirgeoys,  p.  81. 


92  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

postulants  and  Indian  converts.  Next,  tliey  spared 
two  sisters  for  the  famous  Mountain  Mission  of  the 
Iroquois.  It  was  the  mountain  which  Jacques  Cartier 
had  surnamed  the  Royal,  and  which  gave  its  name, 
corrupted,  to  the  island. 

"Wlien  first,  in  1649,  M.  de  Maisonneuve  beheld  the 
stately  height,  that  "  knight  of  the  Queen  of  Angels" 
vowed  to  erect  a  cross,  the  standard  of  his  Lord,  upon 
its  summit,  and  to  place  beside  it  the  lesser  banner  of 
his  sovereign  Lady.  So  he  caused  a  tall,  massive 
cross  to  be  made  ;  and  he  himself  bore  it  painfully  to 
the  top  of  the  mountain,  planting  it  firmly  there,  and 
inserting  carefully,  in  a  niche  at  its  foot,  the  image 
given  him  by  his  sisters  at  Troyes.  This  took  place 
the  same  year  and  season — perhaps  the  same  day  and 
hour — in  which  Marguerite,  looking  up  from  the 
Eosary  procession  upon  the  great  statue  of  Our  Lady, 
beheld  it  robed  with  unwonted  S23lendors. 

So  now  she  sent  two  sisters  to  toil  among  the  In- 
dians ;  for  M.  de  Belmont,  serving  there  as  priest,  had 
opened  schools  for  the  savages,  which  were  well  at- 
tended. And  there  the  sisters  dwelt  in  birch-bark 
wigwams,  and  labored  for  the  spiritual  weal  of  the 
native  American.  Wlien  advancing  civilization  drove 
the  Indians  thence  to  the  Saut  au  Eecollet,  and  thence 
to  the  Lake  of  Two  Mountains,  the  sisters  followed 
them,  and  are  still  found  there  in  1862,  faithful  to  their 
inherited  duties,  as  were  the  first  two  sent  by  Sister 
Marguerite.  But  labors  and  troubles  accumulated — 
difficulties  about  the  congregation — hard  work  in  get- 


IN  NoETH  America.  93 

ting  the  rale.  The  saintly  bishop  hesitates,  ■would  like 
to  unite  the  orders  of  Quebec  and  ViEe-Marie,  does  not 
see  with  Sister  Marguerite's  eyes.  She  must  needs  go 
to  France  again,  and  get  a  charter  for  her  congrega- 
tion fi-om  Louis  le  Grand ;  which  charter,  according 
to  the  propriety  of  dates  which  seems  to  accompany 
these  matters,  is  issued  and  signed  by  King  Louis  in 
the  month  of  May.  Mgr.  de  Montmorenci  falls  ill,  and 
is  obhged  to  resign  his  see  ;  so  that,  when  Sister  Mar- 
guerite returns  to  Canada,  she  finds  no  bishop  to 
whom  to  submit  herself  and  the  rule,  as  the  term  of 
the  charter  required. 

One  treasure  she  acquires  in  France.  AU  the  Com- 
pany of  Montreal,  we  know,  were  distinguished  for  de- 
votion to  the  holy  Virgin  Mary.  Among  them,  le 
Pretre,  lord  of  Fleury,  had  a  collection  of  ancient 
rehcs  in  the  chapel  of  his  castle.  One  of  these  was  a 
little  statue  of  Our  Lady,  by  which  it  had  pleased  God 
to  work  miracles.  This  he  determined  to  send  to 
Yille-Marie,  where,  he  hoped,  a  chapel  would  be  built 
for  it,  and  where  it  would  be  more  honored  than  else- 
where, as  that  town  and  colony  were  more  particularly 
consecrated  to  the  pure  Mother  of  God  than  any  other 
portion  of  the  world.  Being  brought  to  M.  de  Fan- 
camp,  another  member  of  the  Company  in  Paris,  he 
was  healed  instantaneously  of  a  dangerous  illness,  and 
then  he  vowed  to  labor  steadfastly  for  the  chapel, 
headed  the  subscription  list  with  a  heavy  sum  from 
his  own  purse,  and  placed  that  sum  and  the  sacred 
image  at  once  in  the  hands  of  Sister  Marguerite.     It 


94  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

was  the  consolation  of  the  sisters  on  their  voyage,  and 
the  object  of  their  unremitting  zeal  on  their  arrival, 
which  happened  on  the  eve  of  the  Assumption.  So 
well  they  labored,  that,  on  that  day  two  years,  they 
saw  the  chapel  finished — the  first  stone  church  erected 
in  Montreal — walked  in  the  long  procession,  and  heard 
the  first  Mass  within  its  walls.  The  house  of  the  Con- 
gregation rose  beside  it,  and  the  sisters  dwelt  and 
toiled  there  under  the  eye  of  their  tender  Mother. 

Many  a  storm  passes  by  her  and  over  her  during  all 
these  years.  Chapel  and  house  consumed  to  ashes; 
the  first  English  war  and  the  capture  of  the  city ;  the 
burden  of  the  Superiority — for  the  order  numbers 
forty  persons  now,  and  she  desires  to  lay  down  the 
authority,  to  place  it  in  younger  hands;  nay,  she 
walks  to  Quebec,  on  foot,  through  the  midwinter  snow, 
at  the  age  of  sev€7ify -three,  to  beg  remission  fi'om  the 
office,  but  the  bishop  (Lacroix)  -wiU  not  hsten  to  her. 
"  Go  back.  Marguerite,  to  your  austerities,  your  labors, 
to  this  position  of  honor,  harder  for  your  humility  to 
bear  than  either  :  '  qui  perseveraverit  usque  in  finem  hie 
salvus  erit — whoso  persevereth  unto  the  end,  he  shall 
be  saved.' " '  So  Marguerite  persevered,  lived  to  see 
her  mission-schools  spread  over  the  land ;  to  hear  her 
community  blessed  by  every  mouth;  to  build  a  new 
church,  in  1695,  and  to  see  there  founded  the  perpet- 
ual adoration  of  the  most  holy  Sacrament.  Her  prayer 
on  this  occasion  to  the  Prisoner  of  Love  is  preserved, 


St.  Matthew,  x.  22, 


m  NoKTH  America.  95 

wlierein  she  beseeches  His  especial  benediction  upon, 
and  his  guardianship  for,  her  sisterhood.  "  Most  Holy 
Virgin,"  thus,  after  long  supplication  to  Jesus  in  the 
Sacrament,  it  ends,  "remember  that  thou  art  our 
Mother.  Be,  too,  our  advocate,  and  supply  what  our 
devotion  to  thy  Son  is  lacking  in.  Make  us  see  the 
power  of  thy  intercession  with  Him,  bearing  thyself 
our  poor  and  feeble  prayers  to  Him,  and  presenting 
them  thyself  before  the  throne  of  His  glory." 

And,  now,  the  day  was  well-nigh  over — the  hour  was 
approaching  for  repose,  for  reward.  Sixty  years  of 
austerities  and  toils  had  done  their  work  upon  the 
weary  frame — forty-seven  of  those  years  in  the  wilds 
of  Canada.  Consult  her  life  for  the  extraordinary 
spiiit  of  mortification  which  always  ruled  her,  or  jxtdge 
what  treatment  she  reserved  for  herseK  when  she  pre- 
scribed this  course  for  her  community :  "  To  live  in 
perfect  renunciation  of  self  and  all  things  earthly ;  to 
seek  only  the  glory  of  God ;  to  be  devoted  to  the  in- 
struction of  young  girls,  and  the  practice  of  all  good 
works,  without  murmuring  at  the  pain,  trouble,  humili- 
ations, and  suffering  which  are  inseparable  from  these  ; 
to  imitate  the  simple  and  modest  life  of  Mary  in  all 
things ;  on  their  missions  to  imitate  the  Apostles  ;  to 
travel  always,  when  possible,  on  foot ;  to  win  their 
bread  by  the  labor  of  their  hands  ;  to  be  chargeable  to 
no  one.  In  their  missions  and  community  to  have 
only  the  simplest,  poorest,  most  indispensable  furni- 
ture ;  to  wear  the  commonest  clothing,  and  eat  the 
coarsest  food ;  to  have  no  better  bed  than  straw;  to 


96  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

live  in  all  things  as  the  poorest  peoj^le,  only  in  scrupu- 
lous neatness.  Such  was  her  rule  for  others ;  it  was 
luxurious  when  compared  with  the  rule  for  herself." ' 
Thus,  when  the  Master  came,  He  found  His  servant 
watching,  and  the  end  was  on  this  wise.  Sister  Cath- 
erine, the  mistress  of  the  novices,  lay  dying  in  the  in- 
firmary, still  young,  but  early  called.  The  last  sacra- 
ments had  been  administered ;  the  agony  came  on. 
The  sisters  watching  her  ran  to  the  various  rooms  to 
summon  all  to  the  prayers  for  the  dying.  When  they 
came  to  sister  Marguerite,  she  groaned  in  spirit,  and 
said  :  "  O  Father  !  why  not  take  me,  the  old  and  use- 
less, and  spare  that  poor  sister  who  can  yet  serve 
Thee  long  ?"  And  Mary  bore  the  aspiration  of  self- 
sacrifice  to  the  feet  of  God,  and  God  heard  it,  and 
granted  it.  Sister  Catherine  rose  up  cured.  Sister 
Marguerite  lay  down  upon  a  couch  of  cruel  anguish 
for  ten  days,  borne  with  thanksgiving  and  hymns  of 
praise,  and  then,  on  the  Feast  of  the  Epiphany,  she 
feU  into  a  sweet  and  gentle  agony,"  ^  and,  with  her 
hands  crossed  meekly  on  her  bosom,  went  to  "  find  the 
young  Child  and  His  Mother"  in  the  courts  of  heaven, 
January  12,  A.  d.  1700. 

How  simply  she  told  her  Mother  what  she  desired 
for  her  congregation !  "  Oh,  my  good  Mother,  I  ask 
for  our  community  no  goods,  no  honors,  no  pleasures 
of  this  life.  Obtain  for  me  only  that  God  may  be 
faithfully   served,   and    that    we    may  never    receive 


*  Vie  de  Sceur  Marguerite,  p.  139.  =  Ibid.,  p.  168. 


m  North  America.  97 

haughty  or  presumptuous  persons  in  our  midst ;  nor 
those  whose  hearts  are  in  the  world;  nor  who  are 
slanderers  or  mockers  ;  nor  any  save  such  as  will  study 
to  practise  those  maxims  which  our  Lord,  thy  divine 
Son,  has  taught  us,  has  sealed  with  His  blood,  and 
which  thou,  oh,  most  Holy  Virgm,  hast  observed  Avith 
such  exactitude.'"  How  dearly  she  loved  the  very 
name  of  Mary,  giving  it  in  baptism  to  the  poor  httle 
Indian  babes,  abandoned  or  easily  given  up  by  their 
parents !  The  fii'st,  baptized  on  the  feast  of  Our  Lady 
of  Snows,  and  all  the  others,  were  named  Mary.  One, 
an  Illinois  girl,  lived  to  be  eighteen,  and  died  a  holy 
death  in  their  house.  Other  two,  Iroquois,  Mary 
Barbe,  and  an  Algonquin  of  the  same  name,  became 
sisters  of  the  community. 

But  Marguerite's  whole  life  was  devotion  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin;  every  thought  was  affected  by  her, 
every  act  was  done  as  if  by  her  dhectiou.  To  Mary 
she  gave  herself  in  France ;  for  her  she  left  her  native 
land  forever,  to  dwell  in  a  wild  and  just  discovered 
country,  in  a  town  bearing  the  name  of  Mary,  to 
estabhsh  a  congregation  under  the  name  of  Mary, 
where  the  books,  and  houses,  and  persons  wore  the 
livery  of  Mary,  and  where  Mary  herself  was  solemnly 
chosen  first  and  perpetual  superior. 

For,  at  the  first  formal  assembly  of  the  congregation 
for  the  election  of  a  superior,  the  sisters  had  cried  with 
one  voice,  that  "  they  would  have  the  Blessed  Virgin 


'  Vie  de  Sceur  Marguerite,  p.  114. 
o  5 


98  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

for  tlieir  superior,  tlieir  origin,  founder,  protectress, 
and  good  mother  for  time  and  for  eternity."'  And 
then  Marguerite  and  the  rest  of  them  prostrated  them- 
selves before  the  image  of  our  dear  Lady,  and  made 
this  prayer,  remembered  and  preserved  by  the  sister- 
hood :  "  Look,  holy  Virgin,  on  this  httle  band  of  thy 
servants,  who  have  consecrated  themselves  to  God's 
service  under  thy  direction,  and  who  desire  to  follow 
thee  as  good  children  follow  their  mother  and  mistress, 
and  who  consider  thee  as  their  superior,  hoping  that 
God  wiU  give  to  thee  the  rule  over  a  community  which 
is  thine  own  creation.  We  have  nothing  worthy  to 
present  to  God ;  but  we  hope,  by  thine  intercession, 
to  obtain  the  graces  necessary  for  our  salvation  and 
for  the  perfection  of  our  state.  Thou  knowest  better 
than  we  what  we  need,  and  what  we  should  ask  for. 
Eefuse  us  not  thine  aid.  Help  us,  by  thy  prayers,  to 
receive  light  and  grace  from  the  Holy  S^iirit,  so  that 
we  may  labor  faithfully  in  the  instruction  of  the  young 
girls  whom  it  is  our  especial  charge  to  teach.  And, 
above  aU,  oh,  our  dear  Lady  and  Mother,  procure  that 
we,  the  teachers,  and  all  the  children  to  us  committed, 
and  all  who  shall  contribute  to  their  spiritual  advance- 
ment, may  be  of  the  number  of  the  elect ;  so  that,  in 
thy  society,  we  may  praise  our  good  God  in  the  joy 
which  endureth  forever.""  And  so  it  happens  that,  in 
the  Congregation  of  Our  Lady,  there  are  no  earthly 
superiors,  but  only  sub-superiors. 

»  Vie  tie  Sceur  Marguerite,  p.  14.8.  °  Ibid. 


IN  NoETH  America.  99 

We  would  like  to  show,  by  its  manifold  varied  exam- 
ples, the  zeal  of  Marguerite  for  God's  service  in  other 
channels  of  devotion,  but  it  cannot  have  place  in  this 
book,  which  is  dedicated  to  one  topic  only.  But,  she 
used  to  tell  her  sisterhood,  and  her  entire  life  exhibited 
her  o\Mi  conviction  of  its  truth,  that  their  zeal,  to  be 
perfect,  must  be  formed  upon  the  model  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin's,  of  her  whom  it  pleased  the  Eternal  Father  to 
make  a  coadjutrix  (in  a  manner)  of  her  divine  Son's 
work  of  redemption.  From  this,  that  dependence  on, 
and  imitation  of,  Mary,  which  she  so  much  insisted  on 
in  the  formation  of  her  society,  it  was  no  barren  and 
transitory  sentiment  of  devotion  which  caused  her  to 
call  her  institute  the  Congregation  of  Our  Lady,  under 
the  title  and  invocation  of  the  Visitation  of  Mary.  It 
was  the  expression  of  the  devotion  which  fiUed  her 
heart.  It  was  a  monument  of  her  own  dependence 
and  love — a  model  for  her  sisterhood,  hereafter,  that 
she  proposed  to  establish  by  these  titles.  Some  brief 
quotation  from  her  own  simple  instructions  to  them 
will  not  only  give  us  an  insight  into  her  ruhng  senti- 
ment, but  will  exhibit  the  power  of  one  means  of  ex- 
tending the  devotion  to  the  Mother  of  God  in  this 
country. 

"The  Blessed  Virgin,"  she  said,  "desired  to  con- 
tinue the  work  of  God  on  earth :  this  must  be  our  de- 
sire in  our  special  mission,  the  instruction  of  young 
girls.  As  Mary  used  to  pray  for  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promises,  for  the  dehverance  of  the  Fathers,  who,  in 
limbo,  awaited  the  coming  of  the  Just  One,  so  must  we 


100  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

praj  continually  for  the  souls  in  purgatory,  and  for  tlie 
conversion  of  sinners  on  earth. 

"At  the  age  of  three  years  she  was  taken  to  the 
Temple,  as  to  the  school  of  virtue :  our  novices  must 
be  scholars  of  Mary  and  with  Mary  during  their  prep- 
aration. She  was  edifying  in  all  her  acts ;  ever  ready 
to  serve  others ;  moderate  in  her  repasts  and  in  all 
things :  and  we,  like  her,  must  do  all  things  for  edifi- 
cation ;  must  prefer  others  to  ourselves,  and  b§  as 
moderate  in  food  and  drink,  in  apparel,  in  slumber, 
and  in  conversation,  as  necessity  will  admit. 

"  Mary  was  at  prayer  when  the  angel  saluted  her : 
'Hail,  full  of  grace!'  By  prayer,  then,  must  we  gain 
the  graces  needed  for  our  condition  as  instructresses. 
And  when  our  Lady  had  given  her  consent  to  become 
the  Mother  of  God  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  at  once  to  show  her  gratitude  to  the  Eternal 
Father,  to  correspond  with  the  graces  He  bestowed, 
and  with  His  designs  for  the  redemption  of  the  human 
race,  she  hastened  to  visit  her  cousin,  Saint  Elizabeth, 
to  become  an  instrument  for  the  sanctification  of  the 
great  Saint  John  the  Baptist,  and  to  carry  grace  and 
salvation  to  the  house  of  Zacharias :  so  we,  the  ser- 
vants of  Mary,  on  our  missions,  must  strive  to  contrib- 
u.te  to  the  sanctification  of  children,  to  edify  all  per- 
sons, especially  those  of  our  own  sex,  and  to  let  the 
whole  world  know  that  we  are  indeed  daughters  of 
that  most  holy  Virgin. 

"Mary  received,  with  equal  kindness,  both  kings 
and  she23herds  as  they  came  to  adore  her  Son,  and 


IN  North  America.  101 

took  to  herself  no  tittle  of  tlie  honors  which  they  paid 
Him :  nor  shall  the  sisters  distinguish  between  theii- 
scholars,  rich  and  poor,  nor  attribute  to  themselves 
any  of  the  success  which  God  may  grant  to  their 
labors.  It  is  beheved  that,  as  the  number  of  Chris- 
tians increased,  Mary,  and  other  holy  women,  aided 
the  Apostles  by  instructing  persons  of  their  own  sex, 
and,  by  their  prayers  and  exhortations,  recalled  them, 
if  they  erred  from  the  promise  of  their  baptism  :  and 
the  sisters  must  be  ready  to  receive  such  in  retreat,  and 
to  labor  for  their  reformation,  where  that  is  needed. 

"  But  the  Hfe  of  the  Blessed  Yii-gin  being  all  perfec- 
tion, and  including  all  the  vii'tues  of  the  rehgious  state, 
points  her  out  in  all  things  as  especially  to  be  chosen 
as  our  model,  our  mother,  and  our  directress.  As, 
then,  she  has  deigned  to  admit  us  into  the  ranks  of 
her  humble  servants,  has  chosen  us  to  imitate  her  life, 
and  is  our  founder  and  superior,  let  us,  in  conformity 
with  all  the  graces  given  us,  as  far  as  the  frailty  and 
corruption  of  our  nature  will  allow  us,  imitate  her 
vii-tues.  Our  good  God  has  always,  in  the  history  of 
the  Church,  given  to  the  founders  of  rehgious  orders 
the  special  graces  demanded  by  the  spirit  of  their  in- 
stitutions ;  be  sure,  then,  that  he  will  accord  to  Mary, 
our  dear  founder,  the  graces  which  she  asks  for  her 
daughters,  so  entu-ely  consecrated  to  her  glory  and 
that  of  her  Eternal  Holy  Sou. 

"  Study,  then,  her  life,  oh,  my  sisters,  and  imitate 
her  virtues,  and,  if  we  are  faithful,  we  may  be  confident 
of  her  perpetual  help." 


102  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  IMaey 

This  is  tlie  spirit  wliicli  animated  the  whole  life  of 
this  saintly  woman — the  spiiit  which  she  carefully  in- 
stilled into  the  Congregation  that  she  founded.  In 
her  own  long,  laborious  life,  she  formed  at  least  sixty 
of  the  sisters  after  this  model;  and  since  she  has 
passed,  as  we  believe,  to  her  eternal  joy  and  reward, 
she  has  seen  from  heaven  that  Congregation  ramify 
and  extend  over  the  country,  preserving  intact  the 
principles  she  left  them.  At  this  hour,  in  the  half- 
dozen  dioceses  we  can  learn  about,  more  than  three 
hundred  sisters  of  the  Congregation  are  teaching  the 
example  of  Mary  to  seven  thousand  pupils  in  the  very 
spirit  of  their  venerable  founder. 

So  you  see,  my  reader,  what  Marguerite  Bourgeoys, 
the  poor  girl  of  Troyes,  the  austere,  lowly  religious  of 
the  colony  in  the  wilderness,  has  to  do  with  devotion 
to  Our  Lady  in  North  America. 


IN  North  America.  103 


CHAPTEE  V. 

Extermination  op  the  Htjrons — Our  Lady  of  Foie — New  Lobetto — 
The  Northwest — Immaculate  Conception  in  Illinois— Mary  Ako — 
Down  the  Mississippi — Back  to  Montreal— Our  Lady's  Guard — 
The  Congregation  again — The  Recluse  of  Ville-Marie — Our  Lady 
OF  Angels. 

Westward  from  Nazareth  and  Bethleliem,  through 
Europe,  to  the  shores  of  America ;  westward,  athwart 
that  continent,  advanced  the  devotion  to  Marj,  on  its 
consecrating  march  to  the  Pacific.  We  have  seen  the 
broad  St.  Lawrence  entered  by  her  servants;  a  vast 
manor  given  up  to  her  in  the  territory  of  Quebec  ;  a  city 
built  as  a  monument  of  devotion  to  her,  and  solemnly 
called  by  her  name ;  and  the  bearers  of  her  standard 
pushing  westward,  painfully,  but  with  courage  un- 
flinching, and  planting  a  fort  or  a  chapel,  a  station  or 
a  mission-house  of  St.  Mary,  to  mark  their  toilsome 
but  triumphant  way.  Let  us  follow  it  as  it  leads 
through  the  hmits  of  the  present  British  possessions ; 
then  through  the  French  claim,  down  the  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  so  to  its  progress  under  the  Spanish 
flag,  and  to  the  settlement  of  the  United  States.  This 
much  will  bring  us  to  the  year  1776,  and  thus  to  the 
present  day. 

The  Huron  learned  quickly  to  love  the  name  ot 
Mary.    Above  all,  the  women  looked  up,  from  their  la- 


104  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

borious  debasement,  to  this  glorified  model  of  woman- 
hood ;   and  when  they  heard  from  the  Jesuit  or  the 
Sulpician  that,  by  imitating  her  virtues,  they  might 
share  in  her  glory ;  when  they  saw  the  Ursuhne,  the 
HospitaHere,  and  the  daughter  of  Notre  Dame,  tread- 
ing this  sanctified  path,  they  gave  up  their  very  hearts 
to  the  Immaculate  Queen,  and  besought  her  followers 
on  earth  to  teach  them  the  way  to  her  protection. 
Nor  less  did  the  tall  warrior  swear  himself  to  her  ban- 
ner ;  the  wisest  spake  her  praises  by  the  coimcil-fires 
of  his  tribe ;  the  bravest  crowned  his  dusky  forehead 
with  the  grains  of  her  rosary.     Mary  of  the  Incarna- 
tion could  count  two  hundred  redskins  in  her  schools  ; 
Marguerite  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  saw  them  de- 
voted sisters  of  her  order.     In  their  country  the  mis- 
sionary placed  his  headquarters,  St.   Mary's   on  the 
Matchedash  or  Wye.     "  There,  at  the  humble  house 
dedicated  to  the  Virgin,  in  one  year,  three  thousand 
guests  from  the  cabins  of  the  red-man  received  a  frugal 
welcome." '     And  thence  the  early  Jesuits  went  forth 
to  discovery,  to  spiritual  conquest,  or  to  martyrdom. 
In  the  cabin  of  the  Huron  they  sate  as  fathers  of  the 
tribe ;  side  by  side  with  the  Huron  they  received  the 
deadly  arrow,  or  felt  the  keen  scalping-knife  of  the 
Iroquois. 

Breboeuf  organized  the  mission  in  1634,  and  the 
Fathers  never  left  until  the  Hurons  were  no  more  a 
people,  1650.     They  taught  them  in  the  day  of  peace  ; 


Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  iii.  135. 


IN  North  America,  105 

suffered  with  tliem  in  tlieir  misfortunes,  and  gave  them 
hope  beyond  the  grave  for  their  restraint  and  consola- 
tion. The  triumph  of  the  Iroquois  broke  the  nation 
up  into  five  bands.  The  first  sought  immediate 
security  with  the  French.  The  second  fled  northward 
to  the  Manitoulin  Islands,  and,  driven  thence  by  theii* 
implacable  foemen,  took  refuge  in  Quebec.  The  third, 
appealing  to  the  generosity  of  the  Mohawks,  were  re- 
ceived by  them  as  brethren  and  adopted  into  the  tribe. 
Here  they  preserved  the  faith,  although  without  priest 
or  instruction.  They  met  in  common  to  chant  the 
hymns  they  had  learned,  and  to  tell  the  beads  they 
had  acquired  before  the  days  of  their  captivity.  They 
became  missionaries  among  their  captors,  and  allured 
many  from  paganism.  When  the  Fathers  at  length 
penetrated  into  the  Iroquois  cantons,  some  of  these 
converts,  grown  old  in  the  long-deferred  hope  of  bap- 
tism, rushed  forward  to  meet  them,  and  wept  aloud  for 
joy.  The  fourth  troop  went  to  Mackinac,  where  the 
enemy  followed ;  thence  far  beyond  Lake  Superior  to 
the  Sioux,  who  treated  them  as  iU  as  the  Iroquois; 
thence  to  the  Ottawas,  in  North  Michigan ;  and  then 
to  Point  St.  Ignace,  upon  the  Straits  of  Mackinac, 
where  a  small  remnant  of  them  dwells  to-day. 

The  fifth  joined  the  Eries,  and,  with  them,  were 
blotted  from  existence  by  their  relentless  enemies. 
The  first  alone  reaped  benefit  from  the  national  ruin. 
They  settled  in  Isle  Orleans,  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
changed  its  name  to  St.  Mary's  Isle,  and  here,  amid 
their  cabins,  rose  the  house  of  prayer,  and  the  fixed, 

5* 


105  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

tliougli  liumble,  residence  of  tlie  missionary.  The  Iro- 
quois drove  tliem  even  from  that,  it  is  true  ;  but,  when 
the  war  was  over,  they  settled  again  about  four  miles 
off,  and  gave  to  their  new  home  the  name  of  Mission 
of  Our  Lady  of  Foie.  Hither  the  Belgian  Jesuits 
brought  a  statue  of  the  Holy  Yirgiu,  sculptured  from 
the  oak  of  that  forest  near  Dinan,  in  which  was  found 
the  miraculous  image  which  bears  the  title  of  Notre 
Dame  de  Foie  in  Europe.  But  their  need  of  the  chase 
drew  them  nearer  to  the  woods,  and  a  league  further 
brought  them  to  a  place  wherein  they  hoped  at  length 
to  rest.  The  cabins  were  arranged  in  the  form  of  a 
square,  and  in  the  midst  of  them  the  church  was 
placed  supereminent,  dominating  all  the  village  with 
its  cross  as  in  j)erpetual  benediction.  To  this  the 
missionary,  Chaumonot,  added  a  chapel  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  in  size  and  form,  material  and  furniture,  a 
copy  of  the  Holy  House  of  Loretto,  wherein  our  Lord 
was  born.  This  became  the  holy  place  of  the  Indians. 
The  Iroquois  convert  found  a  home  here,  side  by  side 
with  his  ancient  Huron  victim.  The  Hurons  them- 
selves grew  in  holiness  and  all  primitive  virtues ;  and 
their  brethren  in  far  exile  were  wont  to  make  pilgrim- 
ages hitherward,  bringing  offerings  of  furs  and  balm, 
from  the  distant  west,  to  the  feet  of  the  Virgin  Im- 
maculate. Another  and  final  removal  to  a  very  short 
distance  took  place  long  after.  They  called  the  settle- 
ment the  New  Loretto,'  and  there,  to-day,  are  gathered 

'  Notes  to  Bressam's  Relation,  309-318. 


IN  North  America.  107 

the  fast-fading  remnants  of  the  once  grand  Huron 
nation.  What  was  once  the  site  of  the  Old  Loretto  of 
the  Hurons  is  now  the  parish  of  the  Annunciation  of 
Our  Lady. 

The  Cross  went  northward,  and  was  planted  among 
the  Chippewas  of  Lake  Superior.  The  mission-house 
was  called  by  the  name  of  Mary,  and  stood  where  the 
cathedral  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  now  shadows 
the  leaping  waters  of  the  Saut.  Then  along  the  south 
shore  of  the  same  great  water,  Father  Allouez  carried 
the  beautiful  devotion,  founded  the  mission  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  at  the  very  extremity  of  the  lake,  and 
taught  a  Cliij)pewa  choir  to  chant  the  Pater  and  the 
Ave  Maria.'  And  here  he  met  the  scattered  Hurons 
and  Ottawas,  the  sun-worshipping  Potto wattomie  from 
the  recesses  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  Sac  and  Fox,  the 
gentle  Illinois,  and  the  proud  warrior  Dacota.  For 
years,  Allouez,  Dablon,  Marquette  evangelized  the  vast 
regions  from  Green  Bay  to  the  head  of  Superior,  "  de- 
fying the  severity  of  chmates,  wading  through  water 
or  through  snows,  without  the  comfort  of  fire,  having 
no  bread  but  pounded  maize,  and  often  no  food  but 
the  unwholesome  moss  from  the  rocks ;  laboring  in- 
cessantly ;  exjDosed  to  live,  as  it  were,  without  nourish- 
ment, to  sleep  without  a  resting-place,  to  travel  far, 
and  always  incurring  perils ;  to  carry  his  life  in  his 
hand,  or  rather  daily,  and  oftener  than  every  day,  to 
hold  it  up  as  a  target,  expecting  captivity,  death  from 

'  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  iii.  150. 


108  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

the  tomaliawk,  tortures,  fire."'  So  to  tlie  Fox  Eiver, 
to  Iowa  and  Wisconsin,  to  the  tribes  of  the  Kickapoo, 
the  Mascoutin,  and  the  Miami,  the  devoted  servant  of 
Marj  proclaimed  her  beautiful  name. 

The  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  among 
the  Illinois  was  the  most  prosperous,  although  not 
without  its  checks.  In  a  foraj  of  the  Kickapoos 
the  EecoUect  Rigourde  was  slain,  and  his  colleague, 
Membre,  put  to  flight.  AHouez,  the  "Apostle  of  the 
West,"  labored  long,  and  then  retired  to  Isle  St. 
Joseph  to  die.  But,  as  in  later  times,  with  other 
races,  some  of  the  red  men  were  willing  to  adopt 
Christianity  only  on  condition  that  it  should  not  inter- 
fere with  their  passions.  The  chief  of  the  Kaskaskias 
called  himself  a  Christian,  and  professed  great  re- 
spect for  the  missionary,  but  he  lost  it  in  this  way. 
The  light  of  his  lodge  was  his  daughter  Mary, 
brought  up  from  childhood  in  the  faith,  which  had 
found  congenial  soil  in  her  innocent  heart.  Mary  had 
heard  of  the  virgin  spouses  of  Christ,  and  longed 
always  to  be  such  as  they  were.  Besides,  she  desired 
to  belong  altogether  to  that  dear,  spotless  Mother  of 
Purity,  whose  name  she  had  received  in  baptism.  But 
a  Frenchman,  named  Ako,  rich  for  the  place  and  time, 
but  dissolute  and  reckless,  demanded  her  hand,  and 
her  father  determined  to  give  it  him. 

Mary  prayed  earnestly  to  be  left  as  she  was  ;  she 
told  her  father  that  she  had  given  her  heart  to  God, 

'  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  iii.  152. 


IN  NOETH  AlMERICiV.  109 

and  could  not  religiously  marrj  ;  but  the  old  chief 
forced  her  to  the  chapel.  At  the  very  altar  she  told 
Father  Gravier  of  her  earnest  dishke  to  the  marriage, 
and  was  instructed  by  him  that  her  free  consent  was 
necessary.  This  she  refused  to  give,  and  the  party 
left  the  chapel.  But  her  dusky  sire  stripped  her  and 
turned  her  fi'om  his  lodge.  More  than  this,  he  won 
the  other  chiefs  to  his  side,  and  the  "  Prayer"  was  pro- 
hibited in  the  village.  Gra-sder  appealed  to  the  French 
commandant,  one  of  the  adventurer  La  Salle's  posting, 
but  Ako  had  been  there  before  him,  and  he  was  dis- 
missed with  blame  and  rejDroach.  The  mission  was 
tottering  to  its  fall.  Fifty  Peorias  and  Kaskaskias 
remained  faithful,  but  their  oj)position  was  only  strong 
enough  to  irritate,  not  to  resist,  the  party  of  the  chief. 
The  cross  would  soon  be  broken  down,  the  chapel 
closed,  the  pastor  driven  away.  Then  Mary  offered 
herseK  in  sacrifice  for  the  good  of  her  tribe,  and,  on 
her  father's  promise  to  restore  the  mission,  she  gave 
her  hand  to  Ako.  Her  vu'tues  and  her  gentleness  re- 
claimed the  dissolute  Frenchman,  and  he  became  a 
model  of  penitence.  The  old  chief  made  himself  a 
sacristan,  and  morn  and  evening  he  went  through  the 
village  calling  his  people  to  prayer.  His  wife  in- 
fluenced the  women,  as  he  did  the  warriors ;  and  Mary 
assembled  the  children  daily  in  her  house,  and  taught 
them  to  invoke,  by  prayer  and  hymn,  the  benign 
Refuge  of  Sinners. 

From  this  source  was  it  that  the  good  Indian  woman 
drew  her  consolation  and  strength.     "  I  call  her  only 


110  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

Mother,"  she  was  wont  to  say  of  the  Blessed  Mother 
of  her  Lord.  "  I  beg  her,  with  all  the  terms  of  endear- 
ment that  I  know,  to  accept  me  as  her  child.  If  she 
accept  me  not  as  daughter,  if  she  will  not  be  my 
mother,  what  can  I  do  ?  I  am  but  a  child,  and  know 
not  how  to  pray.  I  beg  her  to  teach  me  how  to  pray, 
how  to  defend  myself  against  the  evil  one,  who  attacks 
me  ceaselessly,  and  wiU  effect  my  fall  unless  I  have 
recourse  to  her,  unless  she  shelter  me  in  her  arms,  as 
a  gentle  mother  does  a  frightened  child." '  This  was 
an  lUinois  Christian  woman  two  hundred  years  ago. 

I  know  of  no  country  in  which  the  influence  and  in- 
terference— so  to  speak  of  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God 
— is  so  evident  as  in  this  country.  Here,  now,  in  Illi- 
nois, as  the  first  Jesuits  disappear,  the  Priests  of  the 
Foreign  Mission  take  their  place,  and  the  Priests  of 
the  Foreign  Mission  were  originated  in  a  sodahty  of 
the  Blessed  Yirgin  in  Paris.  These  carried  the  be- 
loved name  to  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  and  the  St. 
Joseph's.  The  number  of  converts  among  the  Illinois 
grew  rapidly,  and  embraced  the  noblest  and  best  of 
the  tribe.  So  changed  was  an  Indian  village  now,  that 
the  French  settlers  preferred  to  choose  then-  wives 
from  its  maidens.  At  home,  the  tribe  was  punctual  at 
the  chapel ;  when  they  went  to  their  hunting-grounds, 
they  would  meet  every  night  and  chant — for  that  was 
their  way — in  alternate  chou-s,  the  Kosary  of  Our 
Lady. 


Sliea's  Indian  Missions,  417. 


IN  North  America.  Ill 

There  was  do  priest  at  Peoria  since  the  death  of 
Father  Gravier,  slain  there  by  the  influence  of  the 
medicine-men  or  prophets.  But  the  grand  chief  wore 
a  crucifix  upon  his  breast,  which  he  revered  with  sin- 
cere piety,  and  a  medal  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  He 
had  found  this  somewhere,  and  had  carried  it  to  better 
instructed  Christians  to  learn  what  it  was.  They  told 
him  that  it  represented  the  Virgin  Mother  of  God ; 
that  the  httle  Infant,  whom  he  saw  in  her  arms,  was 
the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  and  that  her  especial  title 
was  Mary  the  Helj)  of  Christians.  He  received  this 
lesson  into  a  faithful  heart,  and  he  wore  his  medal 
with  confidence  in  her  whose  image  was  embossed 
upon  its  surface.  One  day,  walking  with  his  gun  un- 
loaded, he  espied  a  Fox  Indian  lurking  in  a  thicket, 
and  saw  that  the  musket  of  the  savage  was  levelled  at 
his  heart.  Then  he  cried  to  Mary  Help  of  Christians, 
and  she  heard  him.  Five  times  in  succession  the  gun 
of  the  Fox  missed  fire.  Before  he  could  aim  a  sixth 
time,  the  piece  of  the  Peoria  chief  was  charged  and 
levelled  in  its  turn.  The  Fox  surrendered,  threw  down 
his  gun,  and  the  votary  of  Mary  led  him  triumphantly 
to  his  lodge.  It  was  to  Father  de  Charlevoix  that  he 
told  the  story,  when  he  brought  his  little  daughter  for 
baptism  to  that  clergyman.'  What  most  charmed  the 
later  missionaries,  when  they  came  among  these  In- 
dians for  the  first  time,  was  their  pecidiar,  grave,  alter- 
nate chant  for  the  Rosary. 

*  Shea's  Missions,  p.  428. 


112  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

These  Illinois  chanters  of  the  Ave  Maria  had  been 
even  to  the  month  of  the  Mississippi,  to  the  new 
French  settlements,  chaplet  in  hand,  and  the  by  no 
means  too  pious  Europeans  there  looked  admiringly, 
and,  perhaps,  self-reproachfully,  at  these  swarthy  war- 
riors, who  had  not  left  their  religion  behind  them  in 
the  far-off  lodges  of  their  tribe.  Indeed,  a  prayer  to 
Mary  Immaculate  was  not  new  there,  for  de  Soto's 
expedition  in  1539  had  been  accompanied  by  twenty- 
two  ecclesiastics.  The  Salve  Regina  had  floated  over 
the  waters  of  the  mighty  father  of  streams,  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Red  River  to  the  ocean,  and  the  infidel 
Mobilian,  in  the  wilds  of  Alabama,  had  hstened  with 
wonder  to  the  chant  of  the  Litany  of  Loretto.  Membre 
told  the  pure  Name  to  the  swarthy  Arkansas ;  Mon- 
tigny  to  the  Tsensas  on  Red  River;  St.  Come  laid 
down  his  life  to  honor  it,  amid  the  towns  of  the  fire- 
worshipping  Natchez ;  Foucault,  du  Poisson,  and  Louel 
shed  their  blood  while  proclaiming  it  among  the  Choc- 
taws  and  the  fierce  Yazoos.  When  Iberville  came 
from  France,  to  meet  the  Acadian  and  the  Frenchman 
descending  from  the  Canadas,  he  called  the  islands  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  Chandehur,^  in  honor  of 
our  Blessed  Lady's  Purification ;  and  soon  we  find 
within  the  stockade  of  New  Orleans  the  hospital  sister 
(1705),  the  monks  of  the  Blessed  "Virgin  of  Mount 
Carmel  (1722),  and  those  devoted  pioneers  of  educa- 


"  The  French  Festival  de  la  Chandeleur  answers  to  our  old  English 
(Jandlemass,  or  Feast  of  the  Purification. 


m  North  Ameeica.  113 

tion,  the  daughters  of  St.  Ursula.  Thus,  then,  from 
its  head-waters  to  the  ocean,  had  the  devotion  to  Mary- 
followed  the  tides  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  on  both 
sides  of  the  stream  it  had  been  planted,  and  its  roots 
had  taken  firm  hold,  and  had  spread  widely.  We  shall 
soon  see  their  bloom. 

But  we  must  now  return,  where  indeed  we  find  the 
throbbing  heart  of  this  devotion,  to  the  city  of  Mary 
on  the  St.  Lawi-ence,  to  Ville-Marie.  There,  while  all 
others  were  contributing  to  the  honor  of  their  sacred 
patroness,  their  safety  was  watched  over  by  the  guard 
of  de  Maisonneuve ;  for  this  gentleman  had  enrolled 
fr'om  among  the  soldiers  sixty-three  volunteers,  all 
specially  vowed  to  defend  the  town  of  Our  Lady,  out 
of  pecuhar  devotion  to  her.  The  number  was  sug- 
gested by  the  years  of  her  blessed  life  on  earth  ;  and 
these  veterans  of  old  France  formed  thus,  in  the  forests 
of  America,  a  sort  of  mihtary  confraternity.  They  met 
daily  for  the  recital  of  the  Rosary ;  they  wore  the 
medal  of  their  order  as  a  military  decoration ;  they 
approached  the  holy  sacraments  on  all  the  feasts  of 
the  Virgin  ;  and  be  sure  that  for  all  this  they  were  the 
first  to  confr"ont  the  cannon  of  the  English,  or  to  an- 
swer, with  their  battle-cry  of  Ave  Purissima,  the  war- 
whoop  of  the  sanguinary  Iroquois. 

So,  too,  when  their  chief  enrolls  the  inhabitants  into  a 
militia,  it  is  "  attendu  que  cette  isle  cipjyartient  d  la  Sainte 
Vierge — because  this  island  belongs  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin."  And  those  who  are  forward  in  the  service 
are  to  have  their  names  publicly  recorded  "  as  a  mark 

H 


114  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

of  honor,  as  having  exposed  their  lives  for  the  interests 
of  Our  Lady  and  the  public  weal."  * 

And  the  imitation  of  Mary  in  her  Visitation  to  Saint 
Elizabeth  spread  fast  and  wide,  the  distinctive  institu- 
tion of  Northern  French  America.  It  was  this  festival 
that  Marguerite  Bourgeoys  had  chosen  for  the  patronal 
holiday  of  her  institution.  "  The  Yisit  of  Our  Lady," 
she  used  to  say  to  her  sisters,  "  was  the  occasion  of  the 
gTeatest  of  miracles,  the  purification  of  Saint  John  the 
Baptist  from  original  sin ;  his  sanctification  and  that 
of  his  family.  Take  that  thought  with  you,  sisters,  in 
all  your  missions.  Imitate  Mary  in  the  sanctification 
of  children."  Swift  and  steadfast  the  good  work 
spread  ;  ecclesiastics  wrote  to  their  friends  in  France  ; 
colonial  officers  reported  to  the  home  government ;  the 
soldier  detailed  to  his  ancient  comrade  the  marvels  of 
Marguerite's  institution.  Their  missions  multiplied 
from  Isle  Orleans  to  Quebec.  Not  only  did  they  fol- 
low their  vocation  in  their  schools,  but  in  what  w^as 
called  the  Outer  Congregation,  which  was  devoted  to 
grown-up  girls.  This  was  of  incalculable  benefit,  not 
only  in  correcting  morals  and  manners  that  were  de- 
fective, but  in  implanting  the  principles  of  purity  and 
zealous  practice  of  religion.  On  Sundays  and  festivals 
the  sisters  were  wont  to  gather  the  maidens  of  the 
neighborhood  to  instruct  them  in  the  faith  and  in  their 
duties  for  this  life.     Then  they  would  lead  them  in 


'  Memoires  et  documents  publics  par  la  Societe  Historique  de  Mon- 
treal.   1860,  vol.  iii.,  p.  134. 


IN  NoKTH  America.  115 

procession  to  tlie  cliurch,  and  watch  that  tlieii'  deport- 
ment tliere  befitted  childi'en  of  Marj,  and  servants  of 
the  Lamb  without  spot. 

"  Then,"  says  one  of  the  biographers  of  Marguerite 
— "then  did  piety,  reHgion,  and  modest}-  succeed  to 
levity  and  indevotion  ;  and  not  only  were  all  improved, 
but  the  hearts  of  many,  touched  by  the  lessons  and  , 
example  of  their  saintly  instructors,  grew  disgusted 
with  the  world,  and  they  consecrated  themselves  to 
God  in  the  Congregation  of  Our  Lady."  *  Marguerite 
lived  to  see  no  less  than  eight  of  these  missions 
securely  founded  and  prosperous  in  well-doing ;  a  few 
years  after,  they  had  increased  to  thii-ty-three,  and 
now  they  form  an  especial  glory  of  Canada,  and  are  to 
be  found  in  one  diocese  at  least  of  the  United  States. 
Anywhere  in  their  mission  you  may  see  them  patiently, 
sweetly,  perseveringly  busied  in  their  beautiful  calling, 
the  "  sanctification  of  children,"  leading  the  young 
heart,  through  Mary's  maternal  tenderness,  to  God, 
her  Eternal  Son.  But  most  edif}dng  must  that  sight 
have  been  when  they  met  in  their  new  and  present 
home  in  Ville-Marie,  on  the  Octave  of  our  Blessed 
Lady's  Nativity,  a.  d.  1845,  their  number  lacking  but 
one  of  the  hundred.  And  still  more  touching  is  that 
anniversary  of  theirs,  when  they  assemble  on  the  day 
that  Marguerite  Bourgeoys  died — not  to  lament  her 
as  one  lost,  but  to  celebrate  with  joy  her  birth  into 


'  From  the  large  and.  very  beautiful  life,  in  two  volumes,  published 
for  "  the  Sisters  of  the  Congregation  of  Notre  Dame."  Ville-Marie, 
1853.    By  Rev.  M.  Faillon,  St.  Sulpice. 


116  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

tliat  new  and  better  land  where  lier  sonl  is  reaping 
tlie  rewards  of  her  seK-sacrifice,  her  labors,  and  her 
sanctity. 

For  many  months  before  the  day  comes  round,  the 
young  girls  of  the  wealthier  classes  consecrate  their 
working-hours  to  the  making  of  a  complete  outfit  each 
for  one  of  the  poor  children  of  the  outer  schools.  And 
ou  that  day  all  assemble,  rich  and  poor,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  good  sisters  and  a  concourse  of  friends,  in 
the  grand  hall,  where  all  the  gifts  are  laid  at  the  foot 
of  an  image  of  Blessed  Mary.  There  stands,  to6,  a 
bust  of  Marguerite,  at  the  feet  of  her  whom  she  loved 
so  truly  and  followed  so  devoutly ;  and  there,  after  the 
other  exercises  are  over,  eaph  child  leads  up  her  little 
protegee,  presents  for  Mary's  sake  the  roll  of  comfort- 
able clothing,  and  adds  something  wherewith  to  make 
a  Httle  feast  at  home  in  honor  of  Marguerite  and  Saint 
Mary.  And  this  is  the  annual  celebration  of  the 
Daughters  of  Our  Lady  at  Yille-Marie. 

One  mark  of  the  devotion  to  the  Mother  of  God, 
which  still  exists  in  all  its  pristine  fervor  in  Montreal, 
I  insert  here,  as  belonging  to  the  Congregation  by 
sentiment,  although  to  our  own  time  by  date.  It  is  an 
extract  or  two  from  the  pious  dedication  to  the  life  of 
Marguerite  Bourgeoys,  to  which  I  am  indebted  for  so 
many  beautiful  facts.'     The  dedication  is — 


'  Let  me  tliank,  here,  for  the  loan  of  this  book,  as  well  as  for  the 
Life  of  Mademoiselle  Leber,  the  kind  courtesy  of  the  Hon.  Thomas 
DArcy  McGee,  M.  P.  P.  for  Montreal. 


IN  North  America.  117 

"To  THE  Most  Holy  Virgin— Queen  of  Apostles," 

and  it  begins — 

"  Blessed  Virgin,  I  am  most  happy  to  recount  liere 
the  touching  effects  of  your  love  for  the  Sister  Bour- 
geoys,  who  owed  to  you,  after  God,  all  that  rendered 
her  so  venerable  to  the  colony  of  Montreal.  Her  vir- 
tues and  her  labors  are  your  work.  Her  biography  is 
the  history  of  your  love  for  her,  or  rather,  the  mani- 
festation of  your  especial  predilection  for  your  beloved 
city,  on  which  you  have  deigned  to  bestow  so  rare  an 
instrument  of  your  choicest  favors.  By  this  privileged 
soul  you  desired  to  renew  and  to  make  felt  in  this 
rising  colony  the  effects  of  your  grace.  You  made  to 
her  an  abundant  communication  of  your  spirit,  and 
rendered  her  a  living  image  of  your  own  apostolic 
zeal ;  so  that,  veiling  your  power  beneath  her  form, 
you  gained  as  many  hearts  for  God  as  she  attracted 
by  the  fervor  of  her  prayers,  by  the  force  of  her  words, 
and  by  the  efficacy  of  her  example.  Be  blessed  then, 
for  this  sweet  discovery  of  your  love. 

"  Be  blessed  anew  for  having  willed  to  perpetuate  so 
great  a  benefit  in  this  colony  by  the  establishment  of 
the  congregation  which  justly  recognizes  you  as  its 
foundress,  its  instructress,  its  superior,  and  its  Queen. 
She  who  originated  it  was  but  an  instrument  in  your 
hands.  It  was  formed  by  a  diffusion  of  your  spirit, 
extending  from  her  through  all  the  members  of  this 
body  to  give  them  life  ;  by  your  love  it  has  grown ;  by 
your  care  and  maternal  solicitude  it  has  been  main- 


118  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  IMaey 

tained  until  to-day.  If  you  are  Mother  of  aU  saintly 
communities,  by  the  participation  in  His  foecundity 
wliich  God  the  Father  gave  you  in  the  adorable  mys- 
tery of  the  Incarnation,  you  are  so  in  an  especial  sense 
of  this  institute,  which  has  received  from  you  all  that 
it  has,  and  is,  by  you,  all  that  it  is.  Deign  to  protect 
it  forever,  and  always  to  renew  that  primitive  spirit  of 
fervor  and  zeal  which  you  gave  it  so  abundantly  at  the 
beginning.  Cause  all  who  read  this  book  to  reap  edi- 
fication from  its  pages ;  to  be  drawn  to  imitate  the  vir- 
tues of  your  faithful  servant — above  all,  her  sincere  and 
tender  fiHal  love  for  you.  And  may  they,  by  this  read- 
ing, learn  how  consohng  is  that  truth,  that  he  icho  has 
found  you  has  found  life '  in  you,  the  Life  which  is  Jesus, 
from  whom  by  you  he  may  attain  everlasting  salvation." 

Such,  then,  for  two  centuries,  has  been  the  ardent 
feeling  in  Montreal  for  the  Lady  of  theu*  city.  And  it 
is  by  reciting  such  things  as  these  that  we  reveal  to 
you  the  secret  springs  of  devotion  to  Saint  Mary  in 
North  America. 

Although  the  history  of  the  famous  chui-ch  of  Our 
Lady  of  Good  Help,  and  of  the  chapel  of  Our  Lady  of 
Victory,"  belong  to  the  history  of  the  Congregation, 
yet  we  reserve  them  for  another  place,  and  end  this 
chapter  with  the  beautiful  episode  of  Mademoiselle 
Jeanne  le  Ber.^ 

^  Proverbs,  viii.  35. 

"  Notre  Dame  de  Bon-secours  and  Notre  Dame  de  la  Victoire. 

^  L'Heroine  Chretienne  du  Canada,  ou  la  Vie  de  Mademoiselle  le 
Ber,  Ville-Marie,  chez  les  Soeurs  de  la  Congregation  de  Notre  Dame. 
1860.    ByM.  FaiUon. 


IN  NOKTH  AmEKICA.  119 

Among  all  who  loved  Marguerite  Bourgeojs — and 
who  did  not  love  and  revere  her? — none  was  more 
eminent  than  this  lady.  Daughter  of  the  wealthiest 
merchant  in  French  America,  she  had  every  thing  at 
her  command  that  could  make  the  world  inviting  ;  an 
esteemed  pupil  of  the  pious  Ursulines,  the  religious 
orders  would  have  thought  her  an  acquisition,  but  her 
vocation  made  her  turn  fi-om  both,  and  she  went  to 
dwell  alone  in  prayer,  and  work,  and  meditation  with 
God.  It  is  not  our  purpose  to  follow  her  life,  but  only 
to  look  at  it  as  a  devotion  to  Mary.  It  was  love  for 
this  Blessed  Mother  that  di*ew  her  so  surely  and  at- 
tached her  so  ardently  to  the  Congregation.  "  How 
happy  your  lot,"  she  used  to  say  to  a  cousin  of  hers  in 
the  sisterhood,  "  to  be  numbered  among  the  daughters 
of  Mary !  Learn  well  the  excellence  of  your  good  for- 
tune in  this,  and  all  the  extent  of  your  obHgations. 
Tou  must  be  perfectly  free  from  the  maxims  of  the 
world  and  fit-om  all  carnal  inclinations.  She  Avho  wears 
the  Kvery  of  the  most  holy  Yii'gin  must  care  for  naught 
else." '  Faithful  to  this  predilection,  when  the  time 
had  come  at  last  to  retire,  it  was  with  the  Congrega- 
tion of  Notre  Dame  that  she  sought  seclusion.  The 
immediate  cause  was  the  holy  death  of  a  young  sister 
of  that  society,  whom  she  tenderly  loved,  and  whose 
death-scene  was  of  such  beauty,  and  hopefulness,  and 
peace,  that  it  broke  what  little  tie  there  was  to  bind 
her  to  the  world.     She  exclaimed  in  her  heart,  with 


1  (1 


Life,"  p.  234 


120  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

the  Syrian  prophet,  "  Let  my  soul  die  the  death  of  the 
just,  and  may  my  last  end  be  Hke  theirs." '  She  de- 
termined upon  absolute  seclusion,  but  it  was  exacted 
from  her  that  she  should  undergo  a  novitiate,  as  it 
were,  of  five  years  in  the  house  of  her  father.  This 
ended,  her  mother's  death,  meanwhile,  giving  new 
strength  to  her  purpose,  she  retired  to  the  church  of 
the  Congregation,  which  she  had  largely  aided  from 
her  abundant  means. 

Here,  in  a  little  cell  behind  the  altar,  dwelt  this  de- 
voted recluse,  the  cell  modelled  upon  the  Santo  Camino 
or  sacred  chamber  of  the  Holy  House  of  Loretto ;  so 
that  in  this  she  might  be  perpetually,  as  it  were,  under 
one  roof  with  the  Mother  of  the  Incarnate  Word. 
Here,  with  her  rosary,  her  Httle  office  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  and  her  utensils  for  embroidering — for  she 
proposed  no  idleness — she  was  at  length  inclosed, 
after  vespers  on  the  Feast  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Snows, 
August  5,  1695,  to  go  no  more  out  forever.  Here  she 
dwelt  for  nineteen  years  in  prayer,  in  manual  labor  for 
the  altar,  in  meditation,  and  in  adoration  of  the  thrice 
holy  Sacrament. 

To  aid  her  in  obtaining  the  inner  union  which  she 
sought  with  the  perfect  dispositions  imprinted  by  the 
Holy  Spu-it  on  the  heart  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  she 
kept  continually  before  her  eyes,  upon  the  walls  of  her 
cell,  two  pious  pictures.     The  first  was  called  the  "  in- 


^  Moriatur  anima  mea   morte  justorum  et  fiant  novLssima  mea 
homin  similia. — Numbers,  sxiii.  10. 


IN  North  America.  121 

terior  life  of  Marj."  There  jou  saw  the  Blessed 
among  women  enthroned  on  clouds,  the  hands  crossed 
upon  her  immaculate  bosom,  while  the  sacred  Dove, 
hovering  over  her,  seemed  to  pour  from  his  spotless 
wings  His  sevenfold  gi'ace.  The  eyes  of  Our  Ladj, 
raised  to  heaven,  were  fixed  upon  the  sacred  mono- 
gram, I.  H.  S. — Jesus  liominum  Salvator.  This  showed 
that  if  the  Holy  Spirit  were  the  source  of  Mary's 
actions,  Jesus  and  the  salvation  of  souls  was  their  end 
and  aim.  Below  the  print,  you  read :  "  With  3Iary. 
By  3Iary.  In  Blary.'"  This  was  Sister  le  Ber's — for 
such  was  her  title  henceforward — this  was  her  object 
now ;  sought  steadily  in  prayer,  at  holy  Mass,  in  her 
communions  and  other  pious  exercises,  in  labor,  in  her 
poor  repasts,  to  unite  herself  by  faith  and  love  to  the 
interior  dispositions  of  Mary ;  and  earnestly  she  be- 
sought that  sacred  and  tender  Mother  to  be  with  her 
spirit,  her  heart,  and  all  her  faculties  ;  to  be  the  model 
of  her  actions  and  the  soul  of  her  soul ;  to  penetrate 
and  fill  her  mind,  to  possess  it  altogether,  until  she 
should  become  a  simj^le  instrument  where^dth  the 
Mother  might  deign  to  glorify  her  Divine  Son." 

The  other  print  represented  the  same  good  Mother 
receiving  into  her  arms  and  lovingly  suj)porting  a 
Christian  soul,  which,  languishing  in  this  condition  of 
exile,  seemed  to  find  all  its  joy  and  repose  in  Mary. 
The  Sulpicians  celebrated  the  feast  of  this  interior  life 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  on  the  nineteenth  of  October, 


Life  of  Mademoiselle  le  Ber,  p.  211. 
6 


122  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

and  for  the  pious  recluse  it  was  a  day  of  particular 
devotion.  And,  still  more  to  lionor  it,  even  by  the 
works  of  her  hands,  she  made  a  superb  vestment  for 
the  feasts  of  the  Immaculate  Queen,  and  in  the  centre 
of  the  cross  she  embroidered  most  cunningly  the  pic- 
ture first  described.  How  all  this  love  was  answered 
and  increased,  we  shall  see  in  the  notes  of  the  chapels 
and  churches  connected  with  the  Congregation.  She 
never  wearied  in  her  benefits  to  this  "  family  of  Mary," 
as  she  called  it.  Her  means  had  gi'eatly  aided  the 
building  of  their  church;  she  furnished  the  richest 
vases  and  ornaments  for  the  altar ;  she  founded  there 
the  Perpetual  Adoration  of  the  Most  Holy  Sacrament, 
and  endowed  a  daily  Mass ;  and  more,  to  maintain, 
out  of  filial  love  and  tender  devotion  to  Saint  Mary,  an 
institiite  so  distinctly  her  own,  she  gave  them  ten  thou- 
sand Hvres  "  for  the  good  friendship  that  she  bears  to 
the  Sisters  of  the  Congregation  of  Our  Lady,"'  the 
only  condition  being  that  the  revenue  shall  be  applied 
to  their  uses  in  Ville-Marie  alone. 

Glad  enough,  we  may  be  sure,  was  the  heart  of 
Sister  Marguerite  to  have  such  a  guest  within  the 
walls  of  her  house.  At  the  time  of  her  coming  there 
were  other  guests  there  also.  The  Hospital  Sisters 
had  been  burned  out,  and  had  found  affectionate  wel- 
come from  the  humble  Daughters  of  Our  Lady.  "  We 
have  now,"  says  Marguerite  Bourgeoys,  "  in  our  house 


>  "  Pour  la  bonne  amitie  qu'elle  porte  aux  Soeurs  de  la  Congregation 
de  Notre  Dame."    Words  of  the  deed  of  donation. 


IN  North  America.  123 

tlie  three  estates  of  women  whom  our  dear  Lord  left 
on  earth,  after  His  resurrection,  to  serve  Him  and  His 
Chui-ch :  like  Magdalen,  by  solitary  life ;  like  Martha, 
by  active  life  in  the  cloister  ;  like  the  most  holy  Virgin, 
by  an  uncloistered  life  of  zeal."'  There  lived,  then, 
the  recluse,  so  busied  with  her  needle,  that  she  fur- 
nished all  the  parishes  of  Montreal  Avith  chasubles, 
altar  fi'onts,  and  other  ornaments.  They  still  preserve 
in  the  parish  church  of  the  city  a  cope,  chasuble,  and 
dalmatics,  richly  embroidered  on  cloth  of  silver  by  her 
nimble  fingers.  Towards  herself  she  showed  an  ex- 
treme parsimony,  making  her  poor  woollen  robe  and 
coarse  shoes  last  for  years  by  mending  them  repeatedly 
herself ;  for  of  all  her  large  revenues,  what  was  left 
from  her  gifts  to  the  altar,  she  scrupulously  gave  to 
the  poor.  She  knew  the  Psalms  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment almost  entirely  by  heart.  They  were  her  books 
of  predilection.  But,  besides  reading  these,  she  re- 
cited daily  the  Litanies  of  the  Saints,  the  Office  of  the 
Cross,  the  Eosary,  and  the  Little  Office  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  Add  to  these  her  ordinary  prayers,  mental 
and  vocal,  her  adoration  of  the  Sacrament,  the  office 
for  the  dead  three  times  a  week,  her  embroidery,  and 
her  care  for  the  poor,  and  judge  whether  she  had  not 
caught  some  of  the  tireless  spirit  of  zeal  of  her  sacred 
model  and  Mother. 

The  faithful  of  that  day  and  place  believed  that  the 
angels  used  to  help  her.    That  she  did  receive  many  and 

'  Vie  de  Mademoiselle  le  Ber,  p.  229 


124  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mart 

\'isible  graces  from  on  higli,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt. 
Touched  by  her  example,  her  brother  Pierre  also  re- 
nounced the  world  from  devotion  to  Mary  in  the  Holy 
Family.  Joining  with  Francois  Charon  de  la  Barre, 
he  instituted  the  Hospital  Brothers  in  honor  of  St. 
Joseph,  and  built  with  his  fortune  a  chapel  of  St. 
Anne,  the  mother  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  town  from  that  where  stood  his  sister's 
chapel  of  Bon  Secours.  This  was  the  origin  of  St. 
Anne's,  so  famous  in  song  and  northern  story.  Dying 
before  his  sister,  he  left  to  her  beloved  community  ten 
thousand  hvres,  on  the  sole  condition  that  there  should 
always  be  one  of  the  sisters  who  should  bear  the  name 
of  Saint  Mary,  and  another  that  of  Saint  Anne.  His 
body  was  buried  in  the  church  of  the  Hospital 
Brothers,  his  heart  in  the  chapel  of  the  Congregation 
of  Our  Lady — that  it  and  his  dear  sister's  heart  might 
not  be  divided  even  in  the  grave. 

Marguerite,  dying,  had  charged  her  sisterhood  to 
increase  the  accommodation  for  their  schools  so  soon 
as  Divine  Providence  should  provide  the  means.  But 
thirteen  years  passed  on^  the  necessity  annually  in- 
creasing, but  the  good  sisters  growing  no  richer.  For 
years,  however,  this  project  had  lain  in  the  charitable 
heart  of  Jeanne  le  Ber,  and  now  that  she  felt  heaven 
drawing  nearer,  she  determined  to  execute  it.  First, 
she  recommended  her  project  to  the  Blessed  Virgin 
and  to  her  holy  friends  the  angels,  and  then  she  began 
to  press  the  sisters  to  the  work.  They  were  reluctant, 
having  the  fear  of  debt  before  their  eyes,  and  they  put 


IN  KoRTH  Amepjca.  125 

olf  the  pious  rechise  as  well  as  they  could.  But  they 
vere  used  to  listen  to  her  advice,  and  when  she  said 
that  she  knew  it  was  the  will  of  God,  and  that  the 
angels  would  help  them,  they  went  to  work  and  gave 
the  first  orders,  although  they  had  neither  materials 
nor  money.  The  foundation  was  dug,  the  corner-stone 
was  blessed  and  laid  by  M.  de  Belmont,  and  the  new 
house  was  dedicated  to  their  heavenly  superior,  under 
the  title  of  Our  Lady  of  Angels.  This  was  the  inscrip- 
tion on  the  plate  in  the  corner-stone  : 

"Most  Holy  "Virgin,  Queen  of  Angels,  refuge  and 
safety  of  men,  receive  the  prayers  which  we,  in  full 
confidence,  oflfer,  to  obtain  your  blessed  protection  for 
the  commencement,  the  advance,  and  the  completion 
of  this  building  which  your  servant  and  our  good 
mother,  Marguerite  Bourgeoys,  has  charged  us  to  con- 
struct. With  all  our  hearts  we  desire  that  it  may 
serve  to  augment  your  honor  and  the  glory  of  your 
Divine  Son.  Do  not,  oh.  Immaculate  Virgin,  ever 
permit  mortal  sin  to  enter  in  this  house.  Bid  the  holy 
angels  watch  so  well  over  the  conduct  of  all  who  dwell 
therein,  that  you  may  be  ever  loved  and  faithfully 
served  as  Our  Lady  and  Our  Queen.     Amen." 

Ask  in  the  country  where  it  stands  to-day,  and  they 
will  tell  you  that  immortal  hands  worked  at  those 
walls,  and  that  the  masons  looked  with  awe  every 
morning  at  a  progress  to  which  they  had  not  con- 
tributed. Be  that  as  it  may,  the  house  was  finished ; 
and  Jeanne  le  Ber,  gathering  together  her  last  thirteen 
thousand  Hvres,   founded  therewith   what   we   would 


126  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

now  call  scholarsliips  for  girls  who  merited  education, 
but  whose  parents  were  too  poor  to  furnish  the  requi- 
site means.  And  this  was  the  last  act  of  money-giving 
charity,  done  in  honor  of  Our  Lady  of  Angels.  It 
was  the  day  after  the  Feast  of  the  Blessed  Virgin's 
Nativity,  September  9,  1714,  that  she  signed  the  deed 
of  this  foundation ;  twenty-four  days  after,  hope  had 
become  realization. 

On  theu'  own  festival,  the  second  of  October,  the 
holy  guardian  angels  came  for  the  pure  soul  of  the  re- 
cluse, and   she  died   in  prayer  and  love  as  she  had 
lived,  resigning  herseK  into  the  hands  of  that  blessed 
Mother  whom  on  earth  she  had  served  so  well.     Her 
modest  cell  and  work-room  were  religiously  preserved, 
and  the  devout  of  Yille-Marie  loved  to  go  pray  at  her 
tomb ;  but  the  cell  with  its  furniture,  the  church,  and 
the  house  of  the  Congi-egation,  were  consumed  by  the 
fire  of  1768.     When  the   estabhshment  was  builded 
anew,  a  repository  was  made  on  the  site  of  the  cell, 
where   now    remains,   in   His  ineffable    patience,  the 
Prisoner  of  Love.     Beside  the  gi-ave  of  the  recluse 
stands  the  miraculous   statue  of   Our   Lady  of  Pity, 
gracious  sentinel  over  the  ashes  of  her  devoted  child. 
Frequent  recurrence  will  be  made  to  Mademoiselle  le 
Ber  in  these  pages ;  but  now,  for  the  present,  we  leave 
the  edifying  volume  which  contains  her  biography,  and 
is  dedicated  with  propriety.  To  Mary  presented  m 
the  Temple. 


IN  North  Ameeica.  127 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Devotion  of  the  Holt  Family — OrR  Ladt  of  Victort — Our  Lady  of 
Good  Help — Our  Ladt  of  the  Visitation — Lodge  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception — Our  Ladt  of  Snows  —Cathedral  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception,  and  Chubohes  of  Our  Ladt  in  Quebec. 

The  first  three  titles  written  above  are  the  titles  of 
three  most  eminent  devotions  in  Canada.  Dating  back 
to  the  very  beginnings  of  the  colony,  they,  or  at 
least  two  of  them,  have  grown  steadily  in  the  affec- 
tions of  the  Canadian  Catholic  down  to  this  day.  A 
favorite  theme  of  M.  Olier's  devout  meditation  was  the 
Holy  Family,  Jesus,  Mary,  and  Joseph,  in  the  stable, 
in  the  humble  house  at  Nazareth,  or  the  flight  from 
the  murderous  wrath  of  Herod  during  the  long  hidden 
life  of  our  Lord.  As  by  this  sacred  household  it  had 
pleased  the  Eternal  Father  to  convey  salvation  unto 
man,  so  did  M.  OHer  desire  to  secure  its  protection  for 
the  new  France  which  was  growing  up  in  the  snowy 
pine-woods  of  the  scarcely  trodden  West.  It  was  in 
February,  then,  that  this  holy  priest,  assembhng  the 
Society  of  Montreal  in  the  church  of  Our  Lady  of 
Paris,  and  having  offered  the  eternal  Sacrifice  at  the 
altar  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  consecrated  Montreal  and 
its  whole  territory  to  Jesus,  Mary,  and  Joseph,  under 
the  particular  protection  of  Mary,  to  whom  the  com- 
pany resigned  forever  the  sovereignty  and  dominion  of 
their  lands. 


128  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

As  lie  used  to  go  before,  on  their  journeys  in  tlie 
land  of  Palestine  ;  as  lie  marched  before  on  the  weary 
way  to  Egypt ;  so  now  St.  Joseph  was  the  first  to 
come  amid  the  ice-fields  and  by  the  rushing  rivers  of 
Canada.  He  came  in  and  with  the  hospital  sisters  of 
Mademoiselle  Manse,  endowed  by  M.  de  la  Dauver- 
siere  expressly  to  honor  the  pure  foster-father  of 
Christ.  Then  came  the  seminary  priests  of  St.  Sulpice, 
whose  aim  was,  as  is  that  of  the  sacred  priesthood  in- 
deed, to  rej)resent  our  Lord  liimseK,  and  to  diffuse  His 
spirit.  And,  thirdly,  came  the  institute  of  Marguerite 
Bourgeoys,  to  make  the  name  and  thought  of  Mary 
revered  and  loved.  To  none  of  these  three  had  M. 
Olier  revealed  this  cherished  idea ;  yet,  without  theu' 
own  design,  they  perfectly  accomphshed  it.  By  and 
by,  the  time  came  ;  the  Jesuit  Father,  Chaumonot,  pro- 
posed and  took  the  management  of  the  scheme ;  the 
three  communities  accorded  heartily,  and  the  Confra- 
ternity of  the  Holy  Family  was  estabhshed  in  Canada. 
The  object  was  to  reach  the  three  estates  of  manhood, 
womanhood,  and  childhood ;  to  induce  every  resident 
of  the  land  to  do  something  towards  an  imitation  of 
these  great  exemplars  of  human  virtue — ^the  men  to 
find  their  model  in  St.  Joseph,  the  women  in  Our 
Lady,  the  children  in  the  gentle  innocence  of  the  Li- 
fant  Jesus. 

Sister  Marguerite  records  her  signing  of  the  act  of 
foundation,  together  with  Mademoiselle  Manse,  and 
Mother  Mace,  superior  of  the  Hospitalieres ;  "  for," 
says  the  Sister  Mozier,  historian  of  the  Hotel  Dieu 


IN  NoETH  Ameeica.  129 

"  our  first  superiors  were  closely  bound  in  holy  fi-iend- 
ship  with  Marguerite  Bourgeoys  and  her  sisters  ;  they 
were  daughters  of  the  most  hoi}'  Yirgin,  whom  they 
had  chosen  for  mother  and  ]3rotectress ;  and  we  daugh- 
ters of  St.  Joseph,  which  makes  us,  too,  adopted  chil- 
dren of  the  same  Holy  Family."'  The  first  use  to 
which  Marguerite  applied  the  new  scheme  was  in  the 
estabhshment  of  a  house  for  poor  grown-up  girls, 
wherein  they  might  be  taught  some  honest  calling, 
while  their  souls  were  kept  pure  from  the  temptations 
to  which  they  were  exposed.  And  this  was  called  the 
House  of  Providence  of  the  Holy  Family.  Soon  it  was 
used  for  spiritual  retreats ;  then  for  the  preparation  of 
children  for  their  first  communion ;  and  so  incalculable 
were  the  moral  benefits  produced,  that  royal  jorocu- 
reurs  grew  eloquent  about  it  in  their  letters  to  the  king, 
travellers  consecrated  pages  of  their  journals  to  its 
praises,  and  the  Parisian  Father  Souart  used  to  call 
Sister  Marguerite  la  petite  Sainfe  Genevieve  du  Canada. 
Mgr.  de  St.  Yallier  desired  such  a  blessing  for  his 
episcopal  city  of  Quebec,  and  sister  Marie  Barbier  was 
sent  to  found  it.  From  the  very  commencement,  zeal 
and  fervor  for  a  better  and  hoher  life  spread  through- 
out the  city ;  every  day  gave  birth  to  some  new  prac- 
tice in  honor  of  the  Infant  Saviour,  the  Virgin,  or  St. 
Joseph  ;  the  young  girls  in  humbler  life  had  been  over- 
fond  of  dress,  vieing  with  each  other  in  seK-ornamenta- 
tion,  and,  by  dressing  above  their  class,  had  exposed 

'  Vie  de  Soeur  Marguerite,  i.  170. 
I  G- 


130  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

tliemselves  to  vanity  and  the  usual  risks  and  tempta- 
tion that  attend  it.  But,  before  the  end  of  the  first 
year,  this  "was  all  cured ;  and,  on  Corpus  Christi,  a 
modest  neatness  was  the  characteristic  of  all,  and  their 
head-tire  and  other  gilded  decorations  were  lying  at 
the  feet  of  the  statue  of  St.  Mary  the  Virgin.  Since 
that  day,  no  people  has  ever  surpassed  the  Canadians 
in  devotion  to  the  Holy  Family. 

About  the  autumn  of  1711,  Ville-Marie  was  fiUed 
with  terror  at  the  report  of  an  English  armament, 
twelve  thousand  strong,*  on  their  way  from  Boston  to 
the  conquest  of  Canada.  Montreal  and  Quebec,  had 
they  been  together,  had  no  means  of  resisting  even  the 
half  of  such  a  force ;  and  it  was  soon  clearly  evident 
that,  if  help  there  were,  it  must  be  only  from  the  hand 
of  God.  To  Him,  therefore,  the  Catholic  people  had 
recourse.  The  churches  were  thronged,  the  altars  be- 
sieged. Men  and  women  vied  with  each  other  in  acts 
of  interior  and  exterior  penitence.  And,  at  last,  the 
young  people  who  formed  the  external  Congregation 
of  Notre  Dame  united  in  a  vow  to  the  sacred  Mother 
of  God,  that  if,  by  her  powerful  intercession,  she  would 
save  the  town,  which  was  built  in  her  honor  and  bore 
her  gracious  name,  they  would  erect  a  shrine  in  their 
gratitude,  in  peiyetuam  rei  memoriam,  which  should 
bear  the  title  of  Our  Lady  of  Victory.  As  the  time 
passed  on,  the  rumors  grew  to  certainty.  The  fleet 
was  already  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  advancing  swiftly 


•  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  iii.  y.  222. 


EST  North  America.  131 

towards  the  citv.  The  alarm  reached  even  the  cell  of 
Sister  le  Ber.  The  sister  -vvho  carried  her  modest  pro- 
vision to  her,  told  her  that,  if  the  wind  should  hold 
favorable,  the  English  fleet  and  the  ruin  of  Montreal 
would  arrive  together,  and  that  in  a  day  or  two.  But, 
after  a  short  silence,  the  recluse  said,  calmly :  "  No, 
my  sister,  the  Blessed  Virgin  will  take  care  of  the 
country ;  she  is  the  guardian  of  Ville-Marie,  and  we 
have  nothing  to  fear." 

Now  the  people  of  the  good  town  had  great  confi- 
dence in  the  prayers  of  the  holy  recluse,  and  they 
trusted  in  God  in  the  midst  of  their  reasonable  alarm. 
Her  cousin,  the  Baron  de  Longueil,  governor  of  the 
place,  resolved  to  attack  the  advancing  fleet  off  Cham- 
bly,  and  do  what  he  could  to  keep  them  from  the 
town.  He  could  get  but  a  mere  handful  of  men,  and 
his  hopes  were  entirely  in  the  help  of  their  Blessed 
Patroness.  So  a  banner  was  prepared,  on  the  centre 
whereof  they  wrought  a  picture  of  the  Yirgin  Mother, 
and  Jeanne  le  Ber's  cunning  needle  worked  round  the 
image  this  legend :  "  Our  enemies  put  all  their  trust 
in  arms,  but  we  confide  in  the  Queen  of  Angels,  whom 
we  invoke.  She  is  terrible  as  an  army  in  battle  array, 
and  under  her  protection  we  hope  to  vanquish  our 
foes."  M.  de  Belmont  blessed  the  standard  before  all 
the  populace  in  the  parish  church  of  Our  Lady.  Then, 
bearing  it  in  his  own  hands,  Longueil  set  forth  at  the 
head  of  his  little  troop. 

Theii"  trust  was  not  in  vain.  Heaven  fought  visibly 
for  the  servants  of  Mary.     As  the  fleet  came  np  the 


132  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

St.  Lawrence,  abreast  of  Egg  Island,  on  the  niglit  of 
the  second  of  September,  a  fierce  northward-careering 
gale  smote  them  suddenly.  Seven  of  the  largest  ships 
were  instantly  wrecked,  another  was  struck  with  light- 
ning, and  the  shattered  remnants  of  its  hulk  flung 
sheer  up  upon  the  yellow  sands.  The  shores  were 
covered  with  corpses — nearly  three  thousand,  say  the 
French — about  a  thousand,  says  the  accurate  Bancroft. 
The  rest  were  driven  from  the  river,  and  fled  back  to 
Boston,  where  their  arrival  was  followed  by  a  confla- 
gration that  destroyed  eighty  houses. 

"When  solemn  thanksgiving  had  been  rendered  to 
the  Most  High  for  this  signal  deliverance,  the  externes 
of  the  Congregation  commenced  their  collection.  The 
sisters  gave  a  piece  of  ground  within  their  own  inclo- 
sure,  and  the  chapel  of  Our  Lady  of  Victory  raised  its 
roof  above  the  dwellings  of  Montreal.  Pope  Bene- 
dict XIII.  enriched  it  with  privileges  and  indulgences  ; 
its  patronal  feast  was  the  Nativity  of  Mary ;  and,  for 
many  a  year,  no  day  ever  saw  it  unyisited  by  faithful 
worshippers  who  came  to  give  thanks  for  their  preser- 
vation. Burned  with  the  other  buildings,  it  was  recon- 
structed in  1769,  and  became  thenceforward  the  par- 
ticular chapel  of  the  externes  of  Notre  Dame. 

But  the  greatest,  as  it  was  the  first,  treasure  of  the 
good  sisters  was,  and  is,  their  church,  Our  Lady  of 
Good  Help,  Notre  Dame  de  Bon  Secours.  If  you  should 
make  a  pilgrimage  to  this  famed  American  shrine — and 
a  more  edifying  devotion  you  wiU  not  find  on  this  con- 
tinent— you  will  see  its  quaint  structure  on  the  hill- 


IN  NoKTH  America.  133 

side,  fronting  Notre  Dame  Street,  and  overlooking  the 
broad,  sail-covered  St.  Lawrence.  Its  not  ungraceful, 
rather  Oriental-looking  steeple,  with  its  two  open  lan- 
terns, one  above  the  other ;  its  steep,  snow-shedding 
roof,  and  old-fashioned  ornamentation  of  the  doorway, 
will  at  once  carry  you  back  to  the  date  of  the  Jesuit 
martyr  and  the  Indian  missions.  Of  course,  this,  or 
something  like  it,  had  found  a  place  in  M.  Olier's 
saintly  reveries.  "  Often,"  he  says,  "  it  comes  into  my 
heart  that  God  will,  of  His  grace,  send  me  to  Montreal, 
in  Canada,  where  the  first  chapel  built  to  Him  shall  "be 
under  the  title  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  and  I  shall  be  the 
chaplain  of  that  Blessed  Lady."  *  But  he  was  not  to 
see  Canada ;  the  work  was  for  Marguerite  Bourgeoys, 
and  we  have  seen  her  struggles  to  build  crowned  with 
ultimate  success  in  1675.  The  wish  of  M.  Olier  was 
fulfilled  in  the  person  of  his  spiritual  children,  the  Sul- 
picians,  for  they  became  the  chaplains  of  Our  Lady  in 
Ville-Marie.  Father  Souart  headed  a  procession  of  all 
the  people  upon  the  feast  of  Saints  Peter  and  Paul, 
and  solemnly  blessed  and  laid  the  corner-stone — 
"  D.  0.  M.  Beatce  Mariae  Virgini  et  sub  titulo  Assump- 
tionis.  To  God,  most  Good,  most  Mighty,  and  to 
Blessed  Mary  the  Virgin,  under  the  title  of  the  As- 
sumption." 

The  walls  rose  swiftly ;  a  bell  was  cast  from  a  bronze 
cannon  which  had  been  burst  in  the  Iroquois  war ;  the 
miraculous  statue  of  Our  Lady  was  placed  in  a  shrine, 

'  Vie  de  Marguerite  Bourgeoys,  i.  238. 


134  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

gilt  and  enriclied  with  jewels,  and  Bon  Secours  stood 
open  to  the  faithful,  the  first  stone  church  on  the 
island.  Then  the  sisters  made  over  all  their  claim  to 
the  parish  church  of  the  city,  retaining  this  privilege 
alone,  the  perpetual  right  to  keep  it  in  repair,  and  to 
adorn  it,  "  which  we  offer  to  do,"  they  say,  "  to  render 
to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  our  Mother,  all  the  honor  and 
service  that  we  can."  This  was  accej^ted  by  the  Sul- 
picians,  as  lords  of  Yille-Marie,  and  the  deed  was 
sealed  with  their  famous  seal  for  Montreal,  which 
shows  on  its  intaglio  the  Queen  of  Saints  kneehng  to 
receive  the  Most  Holy  Eucharist .  from  the  hands  of 
the  beloved  Disciple,  with  this  brief,  eloquent  legend  : 
"  Virgo  Virginem  virgini  comiminicat.  A  virgin  to  a 
virgin  gives  a  Virgin  in  communion."  And  there, 
henceforth,  were  daily  Masses  said ;  and  there,  in  all 
distresses  and  calamities,  were  pubhc  processions 
made ;  a  daily  pilgrimage  sprang  up  for  the  citizens, 
and  from  the  remotest  parts  of  settled  Canada  came 
others,  for  already  Our  Lady  of  Bon  Secours  had  be- 
come the  refuge  of  New  France,  and  to  her  protection 
was  attributed  the  success  of  the  infant  colony.  This 
was  the  beacon  of  the  boatmen  on  the  stormy  river, 
and  the  remembrance  of  the  trapper  in  the  far-off 
forests.  For  the  Sisters  of  the  Hospital,  expelled  by 
the  fire  of  1734,  it  became  a  refuge,  a  hosj)ital,  and  a 
grave ;  for,  almost  coeval  with  the  fire,  an  epidemic  of 
most  virulent  kind  broke  forth ;  they  had  no  place  but 
the  chapel  wherein  to  lay  their  sick ;  and  it  was  within 
its  venerated  walls  that  they  performed  their  offices  of 


IN  NoETH  Amekica.  135 

mercy ;  and  that  eleven  of  them,  smitten  by  the  plague, 
died  there,  and  were  buried  there,  under  the  eyes  of 
the  Virgin  of  Good  Help.' 

In  1754  a  great  part  of  the  town  was  burnt  again, 
and  this  time,  to  the  horror  of  the  people,  they  beheld 
their  beloved  and  venerated  shrine  reduced  to  ashes. 
Nothing  was  saved,  pictui-e  nor  altar  furniture — all  dis- 
appeared under  the  smoking  ruin  ;  all  things,  save  one. 
Beneath  the  ashes  they  found  the  httle  statue,  not  even 
discolored  by  the  fire,  but  in  perfect  preservation. 
Imagine  with  what  joy  it  was  recovered  by  the  Sisters 
of  the  Congregation!  They  carried  it  with  devotion 
to  their  own  church,  and  the  holy  Father  was  pleased 
to  transfer  thither  the  many  indulgences  with  which 
the  shrine  of  Bon  Secours  had  been  enriched. 

Many  an  evil  followed  this.  Famine,  and  war,  and 
Enghsh  conquest,  with  its  train  of  consequences ;  and 
the  ashes  grew  black  with  age  over  the  site  of  the 
venerated  shrine,  and  the  rains  beat  upon  them  and 
mingled  them  with  the  soil.  Now  and  then,  a  devout 
soul  would  say,  amid  the  sorrows  of  a  conquered 
people,  "  Ah,  if  we  only  had  Our  Lady  of  Good  Help 
back  in  her  own  house,  all  would  go  well !"  But  the 
people  were  disheartened,  and  did  nothing  towards  a 
reconstruction.  At  last  the  governor  claimed  the  place 
as  waste  land,  and  this  roused  them  from  their  apathy. 
Not  that,  at  least !     The  land,  and  the  city,  and  the 


'  Manuel  du  Pelerin  de  Notre  Dame  de  Bon  Secours.    Montreal, 
1848,  p.  33. 


136  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

people  lie  might  have ;  but  Our  Lady's  little  plat  of 
ground !  no,  that,  at  least,  no  governor  should  get,  bv 
any  fault  of  theirs. 

So,  towards  the  end  of  June,  in  1771,  the  ground  was 
cleared  anew ;  and,  on  the  anniversary  of  the  first  pro- 
cession, a  second,  manifold  as  great,  chanting  htanies 
and  hymns,  passed  to  the  spot  to  lay  anew  the  ancient 
corner-stone.  The  new  inscription  tells  the  history  of 
the  shrine :  "  D.  0.  31.  et  Beatce  3Iarice  Auxiliatrici  svh 
titulo  Assumptionis,  Templwm  hoc,  primum  angusfiori 
forma  cedificatum,  anno  1675,  j)odea  flammis  adustum 
anno  1754,  amjoliora  forma  restauraverunt  Gives  3Iari- 
anopolitani,  cultui  Beatce  3Iarice  Virginis  addictissimi 
anno  1771,  die  Junii  30"  eadem  qua  primus  lapis  veteris 
ecdesice  fuerat  imposifus.  To  God,  the  All  Good,  the 
Almighty,  and  to  Blessed  Mary  of  Good  Help  under 
the  title  of  the  Assumption,  the  citizens  of  Ville-Marie, 
most  devoted  to  the  veneration  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  have  restored  this  Temple,  built  at  first  in  1675 
of  narrower  dimensions,  consumed  by  the  flames  in 
1754,  in  ampler  form,  this  30th  day  of  June,  1771,  the 
same  day  that  the  first  stone  of  the  ancient  shrine  was 
laid."* 

It  was  finished  in  1774,  and  so  stands  to-day.  It  is 
not  large,  the  nave  being  seventy  feet  by  forty-six ; 
the  choir,  thirty-two  by  thirty ;  but  it  holds  the  relig- 
ious heart  of  Canada.     Over  the  portal  stands  Our 


'  Vie  de  Marguerite   Boiirgeoys,  ii.   427-30 ;    Pelerin    de    Notre 
Dame,  23-24. 


IN  NoKTH  America.  137 

Lady's  image,  with  the  legend :  " 3Iaria  Aux'ilium 
Cliristianorum — Mary  Help  of  Christians."  It  looks 
over  the  swift-rushing  river,  and  the  flash  of  its  metal- 
lic roof  makes  it  a  beacon  to  the  boatman  and  the 
sailor,  "  beckoning  him,"  says  Father  Martin,  "  as  it 
were,  to  the  shore  of  the  heavenly  country,  the  port  of 
safety  and  repose."  The  famous  image  was  of  dark- 
brown  wood,  exquisitely  sculptured,  and,  after  being 
the  object  of  affectionate  veneration  for  three  cen- 
turies, was  stolen  by  some  infamous  wretch  in  1831, 
and  has  never  been  recovered.  How  it  has  been  re- 
placed by  a  modern  substitute,  we  shall  see  hereafter. 

Another  ancient  American  shrine  of  the  Blessed 
Mother,  near,  or  rather  at  present  in,  Montreal,  must 
have  brief  notice.  It  is  that  of  the  first  chapel  at  La 
Prairie,  the  Indian  mission  so  often  referred  to  in 
these  pages.  The  date  is  1675,  September  22.  Very 
humble,  indeed,  in  man's  eyes,  is  the  gift  we  chronicle, 
but  precious  as  St.  Peter's  or  Cologne  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  to  the  heart  of  Mary.  It  was  only  "  a  lodge 
of  stakes  or  upright  logs,  straw-thatched ;  but,  for 
thu'ty  years,  it  sheltered  the  celebration  of  the  Divine 
Mysteries,  and  echoed  to  the  responses  of  the  Rosary." 
Nay,  within  its  httle  inclosure  of  twenty  by  twenty-five 
feet,  Mgr,  de  St.  Vallier  once  held  a  confirmation  in 
1692.     And  this  is  the  deed  of  gift : 

"  Pierre  Pera,  and  Denise  Lemaistre,  his  wife,  both 
dwelling  at  the  Prairie  of  the  Magdalen,  with  mutual 
accord  and  consent,  moved  thereto  by  an  impulse  of 
piety,  have  given,  and  by  these  presents  give,  to  the 


138  Devotion  to  the  B,  V.  Maky 

Holy  Virgin  Ilary  Our  Mother,  purely,  simply,  and  ir- 
revocably, a  stake  lodge,  tliatclied  witli  straw,  situated 
on  their  property  at  the  Cote  St.  Lambert,  with  the  site 
of  the  said  lodge,  as  well  as  with  a  perch  of  land  all 
round,  and  a  right  of  way  to  be  adjudged  and  marked 
out ;  the  said  lodge,  site,  environ,  and  way,  to  be  per- 
petually used  for  the  service  of  the  JBhssed  Virgin,  and 
this  lodge  to  be  made  a  church  dedicated  to  her 
name." '  Sixteen  years  from  this  time  the  pious  donors 
were  massacred  by  the  inevitable  Iroquois ;  but  the 
simple  church  they  gave,  blessed  under  the  title  of 
Our  Lady's  Immaculate  Conception,  sm'vived  them  for 
many  years  ;  and  even  now  a  handsome  cross  marks 
the  spot,  and  has  indulgences,  attached  to  it  by  Mgr. 
Bourget,  for  all  who  shall  salute  it  with  respect.  Here, 
then,  is  the  second  church  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion, in  a  land  where  now  nearly  a  hundred  temples 
stand  in  honor  of  that  wondrous  mystery. 

Next,  in  Montreal,  was,  and  is,  the  church  of  Our 
Lady  of  the  Visitation,  or  the  church  of  the  Congrega- 
tion. Built,  as  we  have  seen,  chiefly  by  the  help  of 
Mademoiselle  le  Ber  in  1696,  this  shrine  of  the  faithful 
children  of  Mary  was  held  second,  in  the  devotion  of 
the  people,  only  to  Bon  Secours.  Here  mouldered  the 
heart  of  Sister  Marguerite ;  here  lived  and  died  the 
saintly  recluse ;  here,  for  many  years,  all  the  indul- 
gences of  Bon  Secours,  were  obtainable ;  and  here,  in 


»  Souvenirs  Historiques  sur  la  Seigneurie  de  la  Prairie :  par  J.  Viger, 
Ecuier,  aucieu  et  premier  Maire  de  Montreal.     1857. 


IN  KoKTH  America.  139 

our  own  day,  some  of  the  most  earnest  devotions  in 
Canada  take  place.  In  1718,  a  pious  widow,  Marie 
Bii'on,  gave  foundation  for  a  Mass  and  Benediction  of 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  honor  of  the  holj  Heart  of 
Mary,  "with  intention  of  conforming  to  the  zeal  which 
the  Sisters  of  Our  Lady  have  ever  shown  to  inspire  in 
the  breasts  of  the  children  whom  they  educate,  a 
knowledge  of,  and  love  for,  that  most  Sacred  Heart." ' 
For  this  purpose  was  the  Mass  to  be  offered  and  the 
Benediction  given,  after  which  the  sisters  were  to  say 
a  De  Profundis  for  the  souls  in  purgatory,  who,  when 
on  earth,  had  shown  devotion  towards  the  Heart  of 
Mary. 

This  pious  intention  is  still  carried  out  on  the  feast 
of  that  title,  the  Sunday  in  the  Octave  of  the  Assump- 
tion. Burned  in  1768,  this  church  was  rebuilt,  as  it 
now  stands,  by  the  close  of  the  next  year.  The  last  of 
the  ancient  shrines  mentioned  by  us  here,  is  Notre 
Dame  des  Neiges. 

Fronting  on  Sherbrooke-street,  a  wall  of  defence  and 
two  towers  are  still  erect,  to  show  you  where  once 
stood  Our  Lady  of  the  Snoivs.  Formerly,  surrounded 
by  the  dwellings  of  the  Indian  converts  and  their  in- 
structors of  the  "  Mountain  Mission,"  it  stood  on  the 
southern  slope  of  the  Boyal  Mount.  The  present 
chapel  of  the  name  is  in  the  village  of  Cote  des 
Neiges,  behind  the  mountain.  Here  follows  the 
Legend  of — 

'  Vie  de  Marguerite  Bourgeoys,  ii.  254. 


140  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 


OUR  LADY  OF  THE  SNOWS. 

If,  pilgrim,  chance  thy  steps  should  lead. 
Where,  emblem  of  our  holy  creed, 

Canadian  crosses  glow — 
There  you  may  hear  what  here  you  read. 
And  seek,  in  witness  of  the  deed. 

Our  Lady  of  the  Snow  I 

In  the  old  times,  when  France  held  sway 
From  the  Balize  to  Hudson's  Bay, 

O'er  all  the  forest  free, 
A  noble  Breton  cavalier 
Had  made  his  home  for  many  a  year 

Beside  the  Rivers  Three. 

To  tempest  and  to  trouble  proof. 
Rose  in  the  wild  his  glittering  roof. 

To  every  traveller  dear ; 
The  Breton  song,  the  Breton  dance. 
The  very  atmosphere  of  France, 

Diffused  a  generous  cheer. 

Strange  sight,  that  on  those  fields  of  snow 
The  genial  vine  of  Gaul  should  grow, 

Despite  the  frigid  sky ! 
Strange  power  of  man's  all-conquering  wiU, 
That  here  the  hearty  Frank  can  still 

A  Frenchman  live  and  die ! 

The  Seigneur's  hair  was  ashen  gray. 
But  his  good  heart  held  holiday. 

Ah  when  in  youthful  pride 
He  bared  his  shining  blade  before 
De  Tracey's  regiment,  on  the  shore 

Which  France  has  glorified. 


*  From  "  Canadian    Ballads,"  by  Hon.  T.  D.  McGee,  M.  P.  P., 
Montreal. 


IN  NOKTH  AmEEICA.  141 

Gar  in  tlie  field,  glad  in  tlie  hall, 
The  first  at  danger's  frontier  call. 

The  humblest  devotee 
Of  God  and  of  St.  Catherine  dear 
Was  the  stout  Breton  cavalier 

Beside  the  Rivers  Three. 

When  bleak  December's  chilly  blast 
Fettered  the  flowing  waters  fast, 

And  swept  the  frozen  plain — 
When,  with  a  frightened  cry,  half  heard 
Far  southward  fled  the  arctic  bird. 

Proclaiming  winter's  reign — 

His  custom  was,  come  foul,  come  fair. 
For  Christmas  duties  to  repair 

Unto  the  Ville-Marie, 
The  City  of  the  Mount,  which  north 
Of  the  great  river  looketh  forth 

Across  its  sylvan  sea. 

Fast  fell  the  snow,  and  soft  as  sleep. 
The  hillocks  looked  like  frozen  sheep. 

Like  giants  gray  the  hills — 
The  sailing  pine  seemed  canvas  spread. 
With  its  white  burden  overhead. 

And  marble  hard  the  rills. 

A  thick,  dull  light,  where  ray  was  none 
Of  moon,  or  star,  or  cheerful  sun. 

Obscurely  showed  the  way — 
While  merrily  upon  the  blast 
The  jingling  horse-bells,  pattering  fast, 

Timed  the  glad  roundelay. 

Swift  eve  came  on,  and  faster  fell 
The  winnowed  storm  on  ridge  and  dell, 

Effacing  shape  and  sign — 
Until  the  scene  grew  blank  at  last, 
4lS  when  some  seaman  from  the  mast 

Looks  o'er  the  shoreless  brine. 


142  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  IMaky 

Nor  marvel  aught  to  find,  ere  long, 
In  such  a  scene  the  death  of  song 

Upon  the  bravest  lips — 
The  empty  only  could  be  loud 
When  nature  fronts  us  in  her  shroud, 

Beneath  the  sky's  eclipse. 

Nor  marvel  more  to  find  the  steed. 
Though  famed  for  travel  or  for  speed, 

Drag  on  a  painful  pace — 
With  drooping  crest,  and  faltering  foot. 
And  painful  whine,  the  weary  brute 

Seemed  conscious  of  disgrace. 

Until  he  paused  in  mortal  fear. 
Then  plaintive  sank  upon  the  mere. 

Stiff  as  a  steed  of  stone. 
In  vain  the  master  winds  his  horn — 
None,  save  the  howling  wolves  forlorn, 

Attend  the  dj-ing  roan. 

Sad  was  the  heart  and  sore  the  plight 
Of  the  benumbed,  bewildered  knight. 

Now  scrambling  through  the  storm ; 
At  every  step  he  sank  apace, 
The  death-dew  freezing  on  his  face — 

In  vain  each  loud  alarm. 

Down  on  his  knees  himself  he  cast. 
Deeming  that  hour  to  be  his  last, 

Yet  mindful  of  his  faith — 
He  prayed  St.  Catherine  and  St.  John, 
And  our  dear  Lady  called  upon 

For  grace  of  happy  death. 

When,  lo !  a  light  beneath  the  trees. 
Which  clank  their  brilliants  in  the  breeze. 

And  lo !  a  phantom  fair ! 
As  God  is  in  heaven !  by  that  blest  light 
Our  Lady's  self  rose  to  his  sight, 

In  robes  that  spirits  wear  I 


IN  NoETH  America.  143 

Oh !  lovelier,  lovelier  far  than  pen, 
Or  tongue,  or  art,  or  fancy's  ken 

Can  picture,  was  her  face — 
Gone  was  the  sori-ow  of  the  sword, 
And  the  last  passion  of  our  Lord 

Had  left  no  living  trace. 

As  when  the  moon  across  the  moor 
Points  the  lost  peasant  to  his  door. 

And  glistens  on  liis  pane — 
•r  when  along  her  trail  of  light 
Belated  boatmen  steer  at  night, 

A  harbor  to  regain — 

So  the  warm  radiance  from  her  hands 
Unbinds  for  him  death's  icy  bands. 

And  nerves  his  sinking  heart — 
Her  presence  makes  a  perfect  path ; 
Ah  I  he  who  such  a  helper  hath. 

May  anywhere  depart. 

All  trembling,  as  she  onward  smiled, 
Followed  that  knight  our  Mother  mild, 

Vowing  a  grateful  vow ; 
Until,  far  down  the  mountain  gorge. 
She  led  him  to  an  antique  forge. 

Where  her  own  shrine  stands  now. 

If,  pilgrim,  chance  thy  steps  should  lead 
Where,  emblem  of  our  holy  creed, 

Canadian  crosses  glow — 
There  you  may  hear  what  here  you  read. 
And  seek,  in  witness  of  the  deed. 

Our  Lady  of  the  Snow. 

At  Quebec,  the  Recollect  Fathers  had  raised  a 
handsome  church,  as  early  as  1693,  "to  the  per- 
petual glory  of  God  and  the  honor  of  the  "Virgin 
Mother  of  God,  instead  of    the  ancient    convent  of 


144  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Makt 

Our  Lady  of  Angels,"  converted  into  an  asylum  for 
the  poor.' 

But  old,  even  as  tlie  original  convent — older  than 
our  little  straw-thatched  lodge  at  La  Prairie — is  the 
cathedral  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  built  by  the 
noble  and  saintly  Bishop  Montmorenci  de  Laval,  in 
1666.  So  that  they  built  cathedrals  in  America  two 
hundred  years  ago,  in  honor  of  that  dogma  which  the 
learned  reformed  divines  declare  a  novelty  in  1860. 
The  cathedral  is  very  lofty,  with  massive  arches  of 
stone  dividing  the  nave  from  the  aisles ;  its  dimensions 
are  two  hundred  and  sixteen  feet  by  one  hundred  and 
eight,  and  it  can  contain  four  thousand  worshippers. 
The  tall  tower  and  spire  stand  detached  fi'om  the  body 
of  the  building.  Its  interior  was  destroyed  by  shells 
during  the  bombardment  of  1759,  and  the  pictures  and 
decorations  now  there  are  modern. 

Next  comes  the  hospital,  with  its  chapel,  dedicated, 
in  1672,  "  to  the  Blood  of  Christ  poured  forth  for  us, 
and  to  the  Blessed  Mother  of  Mercy — effuso  Ckristi 
Sanguini  et  31isericorclice  Matri  "  and  thither  one  goes 
to  look  at  Coypel's  famous  picture  of  the  "  Yirgin  and 
Child." 

At  the  repulse  of  the  British  arms  in  1690,  the 
Feast  of  Our  Lady  of  Victory  was  estabhshed  in  the 
church  of  that  title ;  and,  twenty-one  years  later,  on 
the  wreck  of  the  Boston  fleet,  the  title  was  changed 


>  For  these  notices  of  chiirclies  in  Quebec,  see  "  Hawkins'  Picture 
of  Quebec."     1834. 


IN  North  Aherica.  145 

to  Oiu'  Lady  of  Yictories.     Tlie  cliiircli  was  destroyed 
by  the  bombardment  wliicli  injured  the  cathedral. 

Of  old  pictures  of  our  Blessed  Mother,  which  we 
hear  of  in  Quebec,  the  Ursulines  possess  an  original 
Vandyke,  a  Mater  Dolorosa.  The  Seminary  of  the 
Holy  Family  has  a  Flight  into  Egypt,  by  Vanloo ;  an 
Adoration  of  the  Wise  Men;  and  a  Virgin  ministered  unto 
hy  Angels. 


146  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 


CHAPTEE  VII. 

Devotion  in  Texas,  California,  New  Mexico — Our  Lady  of  Guada- 
lupe— The  New  Mount  Carmel — The  Atlantic  Spanish  Mission- 
aries— Maryland. 

In  the  North — as  we  have  seen — the  devotion  was 
planted  and  grew ;  grew  steadily,  in  spite  of  checks 
and  obstacles.  Throughout  the  present  British  pos- 
sessions it  maintained  itself  healthfully,  with  the  single 
exception  of  unfortunate  Acadia.  But  its  story  in  the 
South  is  twofold.  Brought  by  the  early  Spaniards,  ever 
devoted  to  the  Holy  Mother  of  God,  her  name  was 
proclaimed  u^^on  the  coasts  of  Florida  and  Alabama ; 
was  carried  thence  through  the  forests  as  far  north  as 
the  Bay  of  St.  Mary  (the  Chesapeake) ;  as  far  west  as 
the  yellow  Mississipjai.  But  new  dominions  drove  it 
hence,  only  to  be  renewed  with  additional  fervor  in  our 
own  day.  This  was  the  approach  from  the  Atlantic 
and  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  But  the  conquests  of 
Our  Lady  of  Victories  were  more  progressive  and 
steadfast  on  the  Pacific  side — the  side  of  the  Ocean  of 
Peace.  Here,  securely  sheltered  by  the  golden  flag  of 
Sj)ain,  the  missionary  pushed  his  way  through  the 
Mexican  territories,  new  and  old — Texas  and  Cali- 
fornia. From  that  day  the  love  of  Mary  has  conse- 
crated those  regions ;  and  still  are  the  rivers,  the 
mountain-peaks,  the  valleys,  and  the  upland  slopes, 


IN  North  Ajmerica.  147 

blessed  by  lier  beautiful  name.  A  daily  newspaper 
will  show  this,  wherein  the  letters  from  these  countries 
are  full  of  Santa  Maria,  Asuncion,  Virgen,  Concepcion, 
Loreto,  El  Kosario,  Carmelo,  and  la  Purissima  ;  the 
last  new  diocese  established  there  is  Marysville,  and 
the  capital  of  New  Mexico  is  still  called  Santa  Fe. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  blood  of  so  many 
holy  missionaries  had  been  shed  in  vain  in  the  South- 
ern Atlantic  and  GuK  States,  or  that  the  English  arms 
effectually  destroyed  all  reverence  for  the  sacred  name 
of  Mary.  Something  survived,  if  only  the  solitary 
"  one  cluster  of  grapes,  or  as  the  shaking  of  the  olive- 
tree,  two  or  three  berries  on  the  outermost  bough,  or 
four  or  five  on  the  top  of  the  tree.'"  Enough  was  left 
to  give  courage  by  tradition,  enough  to  support  hope 
when  it  pleased  the  Son  of  Mary  to  "  send  new  laborers 
into  His  harvest." 

Although  the  first  explorers  who  landed  on  the 
Southern  coast  were  accompanied  by  ecclesiastics,  yet 
there  remains  no  record  of  any  fruits  gathered  by  them 
for  God.  But,  as  early  as  1526,  Mexico,  thoroughly 
Christianized,  began  to  pour  her  heroic  missionaries 
upon  the  Northern  shores  of  the  New  World  Mediter- 
ranean. Franciscan,  Dominican,  and  Jesuit  struggled 
side  by  side.  These  first  missions  were  about  St. 
Augustine,  the  town  founded  on  the  Feast  of  Our 
Lady's  Nativity,  with  solemn  celebration  of  that  rising 

*  Sicut  racemus  et  sicut  excussio  oleae  duarum  vel  trium  olivarum 
in  summitate  rami,  sive  quatuor  aut  quinque  in  cacuininibus  ejus 
fructus  ejus. — Isalse,  xvii.  6. 


148  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

of  the  Morning  Star.  By  1597,  three  chapels,  dedi- 
cated to  Our  Lady,  stood  upon  the  soil  of  Florida ;  a 
mission  upon  St.  Mary's  Bay  invited  the  Algonquins  of 
Virginia ;  another  wooed  the  Uchees  and  Catawbas 
amid  the  pine-covered  Carolinian  mountains.  The 
Cherokee,  the  Natchez,  the  Mobilian  tribes,  were 
visited.  The  Indian  and  the  Spaniard  knelt  side  by 
side  at  the  foot  of  the  stately  statue  of  Our  Lady, 
which  threw  its  stately  shadow  over  the  harbor  of 
Pensacola.  But  they  were  nearly  all  washed  away  in 
blood.  The  tomahawk  and  arrows  of  the  savages  slew 
over  thirty  Jesuits,  Dominicans,  and  Franciscans.  The 
English  conquest  did  the  rest.  The  Catholic  Indians 
who  throng  around  the  Spanish  St.  Augustine  grew 
few  and  feeble  in  the  destructive  and  licentious  pres- 
ence of  the  Saxon  successors  of  the  Spaniard.  They 
wandered  back  to  hide  themselves  in  their  thick,  green 
everglades,  and  were  called  Seminoles — the  Wanderers. 
By  1783  they  were  all  gone  from  the  neighborhood  of 
the  city  where  they  had  been  peacefully  colonized  and 
instructed  in  the  faith  of  Christ  and  the  virtues  of  civil- 
ization, near  the  shrine  of  St.  Mary  the  Virgin. 

The  same  power  desolated  the  missions  of  Alabama, 
until,  in  1722,  none  remained  of  the  converts  save  four 
chiefs — Oziuntolo,  the  Creek;  Adrian  and  John  Mark, 
the  Appalachicolas ;  and  Tixjana,  or  Baltasar,  chief  of 
the  Talapoosas.  These;  gathering  a  hundred  Chris- 
tians of  their  tribes,  established  the  Mission  of  Our 
Lady  of  the  Solitude.  Then  came  the  cession  to  the 
English,  and  the  red-skinned  devotee  of  Mary  disap- 


m  NOETH  AjilERICA.  149 

peared.  Their  priests  were  banished ;  the  religion  of 
the  foohsh  Establishment  was  proclaimed ;  and  if  any 
still  lingered  who  loved  the  beautiful  Name,  it  was  in 
the  fastnesses  of  the  forest  yet  pathless  for  the  invader. 
Nevertheless,  before  we  cross  the  Mississippi,  let  us 
note  the  double  consecration  of  its  waters  to  the  Im- 
maculate Conception.  Almost  from  its  source  to  the 
Ai'kansas  had  Marquette  made  its  shores  hear  the 
praise  of  that  adorable  mystery  of  God's  love  to  man  ; 
and,  ere  his  followers  sank  the  body  of  Fernando  de 
Soto  in  its  turbulent  floods  where  they  near  the  sea, 
his  fingers  had  traced  in  his  last  will  and  testament 
these  directions : 

"  I  order" — he  says,  after  the  usual  Christian  pref- 
ace and  commendation  of  his  soul  to  the  Most  Holy 
Trinity — "  I  order  that,  wherever  I  may  die,  my  body 
shall  be  carried  to  Xeres — to  the  church  of  San  Miguel, 
and  laid  in  the  sepulchre  luhere  lies  my  mother y  -  *  * 
"  And  in  that  church,  I  order  that  of  my  goods  a  site 
and  place  be  bought,  where  shall  be  built  a  chapel, 
which  shall  have  for  its  invocation  Our  Lady  of  the 
Conception.  In  which  edifice  and  work  I  desire  that 
there  be  expended  two  thousand  ducats — fifteen  hun- 
dred for  the  structure  and  inclosure,  and  five  hundred 
for  an  altar-piece  representing  the  said  Invocation  of 
Our  Lady  of  the  Conception."  He  then  directs  fully 
the  furnishing  of  silk  vestments  ;  the  chaplain's  salary ; 
the  fund  for  the  perpetual  guardianship  and  repair  of 
the  chapel,  and  for  the  Masses  to  be  said  therein — to 
wit :  five  of  the  Passion  of  our  Lord ;  five  of  His  sacred 


150  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

wounds  ;  sixty  for  tlie  souls  in  Purgatory ;  ten  of  All 
Saints ;  ten  of  tlie  Holy  Ghost ;  and  twenty  of  "  Our 
Lady  of  tlie  Conception."  And  tlien  lie  adds  :  "  In  tlie 
event  that  my  body  cannot  be  taken  for  sepulture  to 
'Spain,  I  order  that  that  be  no  impediment  or  hindrance 
to  the  founding  of  said  chapel."  Ah,  Christian  Cabal- 
lero !  not  beside  thy  mother ;  not  in  the  chapel  of  the 
Conception  ;  but  in  the  S"vvift,  turbid  river  of  the  Con- 
ception were  thy  bones  laid  to  moulder  until  the  tramp 
of  God  shall  bid^them  rise.     Bequiescant  in  pace .'' 

Meanwhile,  in  Mexico,  the  devotion  to  the  Blessed 
Yirgin  was  spreading  rapidly  and  surelj'.  The  Span- 
iard had  been  nurtured  in  it  afar  off  beside  the  Anda- 
lusian  streams,  or  on  the  hills  of  Castile.  And  the 
Indians — they  were  a  gentle  race,  except  in  the  cele- 
bration of  their  pagan  rites — the  Indians  gladly  learned 
the  beautiful  mystery  of  the  Saviour's  Incarnation,  and 
gave  up  their  whole  hearts  to  His  iniluence,  embracing 
with  simple  but  most  earnest  faith  the  privilege  of 
sharing  in  Mary's  maternal  love.  In  a  little  while  they 
returned  that  love  with  faithful  childHke  affection,  and 
so  won  gTeat  spiritual  reward  from  her  gracious  in- 
tercession. 

Throughout  Texas,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  and  parts 
of  Cahfornia,  you  find  churches  by  the  score  dedicated 
to  the  Mother  of  God.  Some  of  these  were  built  but 
yesterday;  some,  echoing  now  on  festal  days  to  the 


•  De  Soto's  Avill  may  be  found  in  the  "American  Historical  Maga- 
zine," vol.  v.,  p.  104. 


IN  North  Ameeica.  151 

chant  of  Our  Lady's  Litanies,  or  tlie  clioral  sweetness 
of  the  Ave  Recjina,  heard  the  same  sounds  swelling 
from  Indian  voices  two  hundred  and  forty  years  ago. 
On  every  mountain-side,  on  forest  edge,  on  village- 
watering  stream,  upon  the  fi'ontier  of  the  far-stretching 
prairie  deserts,  beside  the  canon's  brink,  they  stand, 
perpetual  prayers  in  stone,  invoking  the  intercession 
of  the  matchless  Virgin  with  her  eternal  Son :  Our 
Lady  of  the  Eosary,  Our  Lady  of  Angels,  Our  Lady 
of  Light,  Our  Lady  of  Carmel,  Our  Lady  of  Sorrows, 
Our  Lady's  Annunciation,  Nativity,  Immaculate  Con- 
ception, Assumption;  Our  Lady  of  Belen,  of  Santa 
Cruz,  of  the  Canon  de  Jemes;  but,  above  all,  Our 
Lady  of  Guadalupe  ! 

No  less  than  five  of  these  famed  shrines  are  filled 
with  praise,  even  in  this  age,  in  the  diocese  of  Santa 
Fe  alone.  That  diocese  is  well  named,  for  the  holy 
faith,  sown  there  in  blood  three  hundred  years  ago, 
has  never  faded  fi*om  the  people's  hearts.  But  why 
so  many  shrines  of  Guadalujx  ?  Ask  the  lady  in  the 
drawing-room,  or  the  shepherd-boy  on  the  hill-side ; 
inquire  of  the  soldier  in  the  barrack,  the  cattle-driver 
on  the  pampa,  the  Indian  girl  with  the  basket  of  fruit 
upon  her  dark-tressed  head,  and  they  wiU  aU  tell  you 
the  same  story  of  Nuestra  Senora  de  Guadalupe.^ 

Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe  was  soon  the  patroness  of 
all  New  Spain ;  Texas,  and  California,  and  New  Mex- 


'  The  legend  of  Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe  is  given  in  Orsini's  Life 
(Virtue's  edition),  p.  374 


152  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

ico,  were  rivals  in  showing  her  honor.  Eivers  and 
towns  were  called  after  her  name,  and  Httle  hamlets 
on  the  edge  of  the  forests  still  bear  the  name  of  Guada- 
lupita,  or  Little  Guadalupe. 

At  least  a  score  of  churches,  dedicated  to  Our  Lady 
of  Guadalupe,  have  in  those  States  resisted  the  changes 
of  empire ;  the  many  revolutions ;  the  influx  of  Hcen- 
tious  infidels  from  the  Eastern  States;  the  cruel, 
causeless,  wicked  destruction  of  the  harmless  Cathohc 
Lidians  by  the  people  of  the  United  States.'  A  chap- 
ter was  formed  for  the  first  church,  and  Pope  Benedict 
XIV.  accorded  a  Mass  and  office,  with  a  privileged 
octave.  The  copy  of  the  miraculous  portrait  given 
him,  he  gave  to  the  religious  of  the  Visitation  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  in  the  Eternal  City.  To  Spain  he  gave 
the  right  of  celebrating  the  festival  in  Europe,  and  the 
great  Pius  VI.  extended  the  privilege  to  Italy. 

Judge  then,  with  such  a  patroness  for  New  Spain, 
how  fast  the  devotion  spread !  By  1581  the  fearless 
missionaries  had  carried  it  seven  hundred  miles  from 
the  capital,  into  what  is  now  the  State  of  New  Mexico. 
The  land  was  of  course  irrigated  here,  as  elsewhere, 
with  blood ;  and  the  first  to  fall  for  St.  Mary  was  the 
Eransciscan  Eather,  Juan  de  Santa  Maria,  Sixteen 
years  later,  eight  more  of  the  same  order  had  pene- 
trated to  the  northern  Bio  Grande.  By  1608  eight 
thousand  souls  had  been  baptized  into  the  faith  of 
Christ ;  and  when  less  than  a  score  of  years  more  had 

*  Vide  note  at  end  of  cliapter. 


IN  NoETH  America.  153 

rolled  over,  Father  Benavides  had  established  the 
twenty-seventh  mission  in  New  Mexico.  Three  well- 
built  churches  of  Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe,  and  others, 
ander  various  dedications,  sheltered  crowds  who  adored 
the  All  Holy  and  told  the  beads  of  the  Kosary  of  the 
Virgin.  Of  these  poor  Indians,  in  spite  of  their  many 
sufferings  fi-om  the  governments  which  have  plundered 
and  oppressed  them,  eight  thousand  still  exist  as  a 
proof  of  the  graces  won  from  God  by  la  Purissima 
Vu'gen. 

As  early  as  the  year  1686  there  was  a  Guadalu'pe 
river  in  Texas,  and  eight  Franciscan  missions  flourished 
on  its  borders.  Nay,  some  of  them  were  pushed  for- 
ward among  the  Osages  and  Missouris,  while  others, 
going  towards  the  Pacific  shore,  had  marched  to  the 
spiritual  conquest  of  California.  These  pioneers  of 
Christ,  who  were  hunting  souls,  more  precious  far  than 
gold,  were  in  a  special  way  St.  Mary's  own  sworn  ser- 
vants ;  they  were  the  Monks  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount 
Carmel.  These  were  the  founders,  two  centuries  and 
a  half  ago  (1601),  of  Santa  Barbara,  San  Francisco, 
and  Monterey ;  and,  at  the  latter  place,  an  altar  was 
erected  beneath  a  shadowy  oak,  and  Father  Andrew 
of  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  said  then  and  there 
the  first  Mass,  and  laid  claim  to  California  in  the  name 
of  the  King  of  kings.'  South  of  that  rose  the  new 
Mount  Carmel,  and  the  mission  of  that  title  stood  at 
its  feet,  looking  out  upon  the  broad,  still,  transparent 


'  Shea's  Indian  Missions,  p.  88. 
7* 


154  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

sea ;  and  tlie  dusky  Pueblos  gathered  there  to  learn 
the  history  of  the  Incarnation ;  to  be  glad  at  the  news 
of  a  Redeemer ;  to  Hft  their  untutored  hearts  in  rev- 
erent love  to  His  Mother,  whose  protection  they  soon 
learned  to  trust.  And  the  good  Fathers  won  them 
from  their  savage  sloth,  and  idleness,  and  want,  having 
heard  in  their  souls  a  voice  like  that  which  sounded  to 
the  prophet  of  old  :  "Feed  this  people  with  thy  crook, 
this  flock  of  thy  heritage,  which  dwell  solitary  in  the 
wood  in  the  midst  of  Carmel." '  There  the  beads  of 
Mary's  Rosary  were  taught,  and  the  hymns  of  her 
feasts  were  sung  in  the  Indian  language ;  and  as  in 
Asia  the  Mediterranean  bathed  the  feet  of  the  ancient 
hill,  so  here  the  blue,  clear  Pacific  sought  the  shore, 
and  broke  at  the  base  of  the  new-found  vineyard  of 
God.^ 

"Wondrous,  indeed,  were  some  of  our  dear  Mother's 
manifestations  of  power  and  protection.  In  the  Octave 
of  her  glorious  Assumption  into  Heaven,  year  1770, 
the  priests  Somera  and  Cambon  started  off  for  the  in- 
terior, where  pagan  tribes,  hitherto  unvisited,  were 
dying  in  ignorance  of  the  Father  of  aU.  Weary  days 
and  nights  they  travelled  with  their  little  escort  of  ten 
soldiers,  till  they  reached  the  base  of  the  vast  Sierra. 
The  sun  was  going  down  over  the  Western  Ocean  ;  the 
snowy  peaks  of  the  mountains  were  turning  rose-hued 
in  the  setting  day,  when  they  saw  himdreds  of  Indians, 

»  Pasce  populum  tuum  in  virga  tua,  gregem  liereditatis  tnse,  liabi- 
tantes  solos  iu  saltu,  in  medio  Carmeli. — Micali,  vii.  14. 
'  The  Hebrew  word  Carmel  signifies  God's  vineyard. 


IN  North  Ameeica.  155 

fiillj  armed,  and  shouting  their  war-crj,  rushing  upon 
them.  A  moment's  commendation  of  their  souls  to 
God,  and  then  the  missionaries  unfurled  their  battle- 
flag — the  flag  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Fold  after  fold, 
the  azure  standard,  studded  with  golden  stars,  streamed 
out  in  the  light  of  the  sunset,  and  from  its  field  the 
radiant  beauty  of  Our  Lady's  eyes  beamed  on  the 
startled  Indians.  Their  hearts  were  touched;  they 
threw  away  their  arms ;  and  catching  their  trinkets,  or 
whatever  else  they  had  of  value  with  them,  they  came 
forward  humbly  to  offer  them  to  her  as  a  propitiatory 
gift.  They  were  soon  won  to  know  her  and  love  her 
better ;  the  Mission  of  San  Gabriel,  of  him  who  brought 
to  her  the  message  of  the  Incarnation,  rose  among  the 
mountains ;  the  Cross  was  securely  planted,  and  the 
first  Mass  was  offered  on  the  Feast  of  her  Nativity,  in 
the  chapel  which  her  new  children  had  builded. 

Thus  the  whole  golden  land  was  won  to  Mary  and 
her  Divine,  Eternal  Child,  Missions  of  Santa  Maria, 
Nuestra  Senora  de  la  Soledad,  la  Purissima  Concep- 
cion,  were  crowded  with  the  Christianized  natives.  All 
these  establishments  had  the  same  rule.  At  daybreak 
the  Angelus  summoned  aU  to  church  for  morning 
prayers  and  Mass  before  their  fast  was  broken.  After 
that,  each  went  where  the  duties  and  labors  of  the  day 
might  summon  him.  Again  the  Angelus  recalled  them 
at  eleven,  when  they  dined,  rested  until  two,  and  re- 
turned to  work,  until  the  third  Angelus  sounded  as  the 
sun  went  down,  and  they  gathered  for  the  Eosary  and 
then  for  their  last  meal.     The  evenings  were  spent  in 


156  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

innocent  recreations.  Tlieir  wealtli  was  in  common, 
and  was  laid  out  by  tlieir  spiritual  Fathers  for  their 
best  welfare ;  happy,  innocent,  and  pious,  thus  they 
lived,  until  the  "lust  of  gain  in  the  spirit  of  Cain"  sent 
the  eastern  money- worshipper  among  them  to  bhght, 
demoralize,  and  destroy. 

In  1837,  thu-ty-one  thousand  lingered  still  in  pleni- 
tude and  peace ;  but  the  next  year  Father  Saria  died 
of  starvation  and  poverty — died  clad  in  his  sacerdotal 
vestments,  as  he  strove  to  begin  the  Mass  where  for 
thirty  years  he  had  offered  it,  at  the  altar  of  Our  Lady 
of  the  SoHtude.  In  1810  there  remained  of  these 
poor  children  of  God  only  about  four  thousand  in  all 
the  missions  of  California.  Would  you  know  the  rest 
of  their  history,  read  the  note  which  follows  this 
chapter. 

While  these  first  conversions  were  going  on  in  the 
more  Southern  and  Southwestern  States,  an  Enghsh 
nobleman,  a  friend  of  his  king,  yet  powerless  to  prac- 
tise his  rehgion  even  under  that  protection,  resolved  to 
seek  for  freedom  of  faith  in  America.  A  grant  of  lands 
was  obtained ;  the  expedition  organized ;  the  spiritual 
charge  of  it  given  to  some  Jesuit  Fathers,  and  thus  the 
first  step  was  taken  towards  the  establishment  of  that 
church  which,  two  centuries  later,  should  declare  Our 
Lady  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  patroness  of  all 
the  land. 

It  was  then,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
six  hundi-ed  and  thirty-three,  on  the  twenty-second  day 
of  November,  the  first  day  in  the  Octave  of  Our  Lady's 


IN  North  America.  157 

Presentation  in  the  Temple,  tliat  tlie  Catholic  emi- 
grants, under  Lord  Baltimore,  embarked  on  board  the 
"Ark"  and  the  "Dove."  "They  placed  their  ships," 
says  their  chaplain,  Father  "White,  "  under  the  protec- 
tion of  God,  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mother,  of  St.  Igna- 
tius, and  of  the  Guardian  Angels  of  Maryland,"  and  so 
set  forth  to  seek  rehgious  freedom  in  the  forests  of 
America.  Their  voyage  was  long,  as  usual  in  those 
days,  and  a  furious  storm  threatened  to  send  them  to 
the  bottom.  The  two  vessels  were  driven  apart,  and 
in  the  one  which  bore  the  Jesuit  they  expected  and 
prepared  for  death.  Strengthened  by  the  Sacrament 
of  Penance,  they  had  resigned  hope,  almost,  when  the 
priest,  kneeling  on  the  drenched  deck,  called  to  witness 
"  the  Lord  Jesus  and  His  Holy  Mother,  that  the  pur- 
pose of  the  voyage  was  to  *pay  honor  to  the  Blood  of 
the  Redeemer  by  the  conversion  of  the  barbarians." 
The  tempest  soon  lulled,  and,  at  the  close  of  February, 
they  gave  thanks  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  as  they  landed 
in  Virginia.  Then  sailing  up  the  Chesapeake,  first 
called,  by  Christian  men,  St.  Mary's  Bay,  they  entered 
the  Potomac,  and  reached  the  territory  of  Maryland. 

Their  first  solemn  thanksgiving  for  safe  arrival  was 
made  on  the  Feast  of  Our  Lady's  Annunciation  (March 
25).  They  offered  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and 
then  planting  a  huge  cross,  hewn  from  a  tree,  they 
knelt  at  its  foot  to  recite  the  Litanies.  No  other  colo- 
nists of  the  United  States,  known  to  us,  dealt  so  fairly 
with  the  red-men.  No  rum,  no  worthless  trinkets,  no 
destructive  weapons  were  used  in  trade ;  but  the  Indian 


158  Deyotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

set  his  own  value  on  the  land,  parted  from  it  willingly, 
and  received  in  exchange  seeds,  cloths,  and  instru- 
ments of  husbandry.  No  native  blood  stains  the  soil 
purchased  for  St.  Mary  the  Virgin  ;  no  Indian  warfare 
is  in  the  records  of  its  history ;  but  on  St.  Mary's 
Eiver  they  pitched  their  tents,  and,  in  friendship  ^nth 
the  red-man,  laid  the  foundation  of  their  town.  They 
called  it  after  the  beloved  Mother  of  their  Lord,  to 
whose  protection  they  avowed  their  safety  from  the 
perils  of  the  sea ;  and  for  years  the  little  town  of  St. 
Mary's  was  the  centre  of  their  colony. 

One  of  their  earliest  converts  was  the  chief  Tayac, 
and  with  him  were  baptized  his  wife  and  daughter, 
both  of  whom  received  the  sacred  name  of  Mary.  And 
soon  the  fervent  heart  of  the  Jesuit  Father  White  was 
gladdened  by  hundreds  of  neophytes,  for  the  aborigines 
received  with  joy  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  The  cere- 
mony of  the  baptism  of  the  chief's  family  had  been 
conducted  with  what  pomp  their  rude  circumstances 
permitted.  A  cross  was  borne  in  procession,  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  colony  and  his  officers  walking  beside  the 
dusky  American  king,  and  all  chanting  the  beautiful 
words  of  the  Litany  of  the  Blessed  Yirgin.  Soon  came 
the  crowning  boast  of  this  colony,  the  passage  of  the 
reHgious  toleration  act,  in  1649 ;  for  these  children  of 
St.  Mary  had  not  been,  like  the  Puritans  of  New  Eng- 
land, soured  by  persecution  into  relentless  and  absurd 
intolerance.  Churches  soon  arose  to  bless  the  land, 
sometimes  the  work  of  government,  sometimes  of  in- 
dividuals, as  when  "William  Bretton  gave,  for  a  church, 


IN  NoETH  Ameeica.  159 

a  grant  of  land  "  in  honor  of  Almiglity  God  and  tbe 
Ever  Immaculate  Virgin  Mary."  * 

This  colony,  it  is  true,  was  soon  to  see  itself  dis- 
franchised, robbed  of  its  religious  freedom,  and  its 
Catholic  people  stripped  of  their  privileges  for  wor- 
shipping God  in  the  way  of  their  fathers.  But  before 
this,  Father  White  had  displayed  the  spirit  of  his  holy 
Company,  in  the  evangehzation  of  the  savages.  Sail- 
ing up  the  rivers  in  an  open  boat,  with  a  box  of  pres- 
ents, a  chest  containing  the  sacred  vestments  and 
altar-stone,  and  a  basket  of  provisions,  vnth.  a  mat  for 
shelter  from  the  sun  and  rain,  he  went  forth  in  pursuit 
of  souls.  Towards  nightfall  the  boat  was  made  fast 
to  the  shore  ;  the  two  attendants  went  into  the  wood 
to  look  for  game  ;  and  the  priest  gathered  sticks  to 
make  a  fire,  or,  if  it  rained,  stretched  the  mat  upon 
boughs  of  trees.  "  Thanks  be  to  God,"  he  says,  "  we 
enjoy  our  scanty  fare  and  hard  beds  as  much  as  if  we 
were  accommodated  with  the  luxuries  of  Europe." 

On  one  of  these  occasions  he  was  called  to  a  Chris- 
tian Indian,  an  Anacostan,  who  had  fallen  into  an  am- 
bush of  Susquehannas  and  been  run  through  with  a 
lance.  Father  "White  found  him  chanting  his  death- 
song,  and  the  Christian  red-men  beside  him  praying 
fervently.  Then  the  good  priest  heard  his  confession 
and  prepared  him  for  death.  But,  ere  leaving  him,  he 
read  a  gospel  and  the  Litany  of  Loretto  over  him ;  he 
urged  him  to  commend  his  soul  to  Jesus  and  to  Mary. 

1  Day-Star  of  American  Freedom,  by  G.  L.  L.  Davis,  p.  328 


160  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

Then,  toncliing  his  wounds  with  a  relic  of  the  true 
cross,  he  bade  the  attendants  bring  the  body  to  the 
chapel  for  interment,  and  launched  his  canoe  to  go  visit 
a  dying  catechumen.  Returning  the  next  day,  he  be- 
held with  amazement  the  same  Indian  vigorously  pro- 
pelling a  canoe  to  meet  him.  When  they  met,  the 
Aiiacostan  stepped  into  the  priest's  canoe,  and,  drop- 
ping his  blanket,  showed  him  a  faint  red  line,  which 
was  all  the  trace  remaining  of  the  deadly  wound.  Rec- 
ommending him  to  make  his  whole  life  an  act  of  grati- 
tude to  Jesus  and  Mary,  the  father  went  on  his  way, 
giving  thanks  to  God.^ 

But  here  the  further  records  of  devotion  to  our 
Heavenly  Queen,  if  any  such  exist,  from  this  time  to 
the  Revolution  of  1776,  have,  owing  to  the  distracted 
condition  of  these  States,  and  other  causes,  become 
quite  inaccessible  to  the  present  writer.  The  present 
significance  of  the  settlement  of  Maryland  is  this,  that 
the  devotion  to  Our  Blessed  Lady,  expressed  in  the 
English  language,  here  enters  the  now  territory  of  the 
United  States.  The  Spaniards  planted  it,  to  be  well- 
nigh  extinguished,  along  the  Mexican  Gulf ;  and,  more 
permanently,  in  Texas,  California,  New  Mexico,  as  early 
as  1540.  The  French  so  cherished  it  from  its  first 
coming,  in  1615,  that  it  grew  with  luxuriant  beauty, 
grows  daily  now,  and  promises,  by  God's  blessing,  to 
shelter,  with  its  pleasant  shade,  the  whole  North,  from 
the  Arctic  circle  to  the  great  lakes.     The  English,  as 

»  Shea's  Missions,  493,  493. 


IN  North  Ahierica.  161 

we  see,  attempt  tlie  centre  in  1634.  We  shall  return 
to  them  at  the  period  of  the  American  Eevolution. 
Now  we  are  to  look  at  the  other  early  Missions  in  the 
United  States. 


Note  to  Page  152. 


An  unexpected  confirmation  of  tliis  sort  of  fact  is  found  in  Harper's 
Monthly  Magazine,  1861,  p.  307,  et  seq.  When  I  saw  in  the  Annales 
de  la  Propagntion  de  la  Foi,  the  statement  in  a  missionary's  letter, 
that  the  whites  were  wont  to  "  try  their  new  pistols'"  upon  the  unfor- 
tunate Indians,  I  was  unwilling  to  believe.  Read,  now,  the  testimony 
to  that  and  to  the  Catholic  Missions  from  the  most  prejudiced  and 
anti-Catholic  work  in  this  country  : 

"  As  California  became  more  settled,  it  was  considered  profitable, 
owing  to  the  high  rate  of  compensation  for  white  labor,  to  encourage 
the  Christian  Indian  tribes  to  adopt  habits  of  industry,  and  they  were 
employed  very  generally  throughout  the  State.  In  the  vine-growing 
districts  they  were  usually  paid  in  native  brandy  every  Saturday 
night,  put  in  jail  next  morning  for  getting  drunk,  and  bailed  out  on 
Monday  to  work  out  the  fine  imposed  upon  them  by  the  local  authori- 
ties. This  system  still  prevails  in  Los  Angeles,  where  I  have  often 
seen  a  dozen  of  these  miserable  wretches  carried  to  jail  roaring  drunk 
of  a  Sunday  morning.  The  inhabitants  of  Los  Angeles  are  a  moral 
and  intelligent  people,  and  many  of  them  disapprove  of  the  custom  on 
principle,  and  hope  it  wiU  be  abolished  as  soon  as  the  Indians  are  all 
killed  oflf.  Practically  it  is  not  a  bad  way  of  bettering  their  condition  ; 
for  some  of  them  die  every  week  from  the  effects  of  debauchery,  or  kill 
one  another  in  the  nocturnal  brawls  which  prevail  in  the  outskirts  of 
the  Pueblo. 

"  The  settlers  in  the  northern  portions  of  the  State  had  a  stUl  more 
effectual  method  of  encouraging  the  Indians  to  adopt  habits  of  civiliza- 
tion. In  general  they  engaged  them  at  a  fixed  rate  of  wages  to  culti- 
vate the  ground,  and,  dm'ing  the  season  of  labor,  fed  them  on  beans 
and  gave  them  a  blanket  or  a  shirt  each  ;  after  which,  when  the  har- 
vest was  secured,  the  account  was  considered  squared,  and  the  Indians 
were  driven  off  to  forage  in  the  woods  for  themselves  and  families 
during  the  winter.  Starvation  usually  wound  up  a  considerable 
number  of  the  old  and  decrepit  ones  every  season ;  and  of  those  that 


162  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

failed  to  perissh  from  hunger  or  exposure,  some  were  killed  on  the 
general  principle  that  they  must  have  subsisted  by  stealing  cattle,  for 
it  was  well  known  that  cattle  ranged  in  the  vicinity ;  while  others 
were  not  unfrequently  slaughtered  by  their  employers  for  helping 
themselves  to  the  refuse  portions  of  the  crop  which  had  been  left  in 
the  ground.  It  may  be  said  that  these  were  exceptions  to  the  general 
rule ;  but  if  ever  an  Indian  was  fully  and  honestly  paid  for  his  labor 
by  a  white  settler,  it  was  not  my  luck  to  hear  of  it.  Certainly,  it 
could  not  have  been  of  frequent  occurrence. 

"  The  wild  Indians  inhabiting  the  Coast  Range,  the  valleys  of  the 
Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin,  and  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  became  troublesome  at  a  very  early  jjeriod  after  the  discovery 
of  the  gold  mines.  It  was  found  convenient  to  take  possession  of  their 
country  without  recompense,  rob  them  of  their  wives  and  children, 
kill  them  in  every  cowardly  and  barbarous  manner  that  could  be  de- 
vised, and  when  that  was  impracticable,  drive  them  as  far  as  possible 
out  of  the  way.  Such  treatment  was  not  consistent  with  their  rude 
ideas  of  justice.  At  best  they  were  an  ignorant  race  of  Diggers, 
whoUy  unacquainted  with  our  enlightened  institutions.  They  could 
not  understand  why  they  should  be  murdered,  robbed,  and  hunted 
down  in  this  way,  without  any  other  pretence  of  provocation  than  the 
color  of  their  skin  and  the  habits  of  life  to  which  they  had  always 
been  accustomed. 

"  Voluminous  reports  were  made  to  Congress,  showing  that  a  gen- 
eral reservation  system,  on  the  plan  so  successfiilly  pursued  by  the 
Spanish  missionaries,  would  best  accomplish  the  object.  It  was  known 
that  the  Missions  of  California  had  been  built  chiefly  by  Indian 
labor ;  that  during  their  existence  the  priests  had  fully  demonstrated 
the  capacity  of  this  race  for  the  acquisition  of  civilized  habits ;  that 
extensive  vineyards  and  large  tracts  of  lands  had  been  cultivated 
solely  by  Indian  labor,  under  their  instruction ;  and  that  by  this 
humane  system  of  teaching,  many  hostile  tribes  had  been  subdued, 
and  enabled  not  only  to  support  themselves,  but  to  render  the  Mis- 
sions highly  profitable  establishments. 

"  No  aid  was  given  by  government  beyond  the  grants  of  land  neces- 
sary for  missionary  purposes;  yet  they  soon  grew  wealthy,  owned 
immense  herds  of  cattle,  supplied  agricultural  products  to  the  ranche- 
ros,  and  carried  on  a  considerable  trade  in  hides  and  tallow  with  the 
United  States.  If  the  Spanish  priests  could  do  this  without  arms  or 
•assistance,  in  the  midst  of  a  savage  country,  at  a  period  when  tha 


IN  North  Ameeica.  163 

Indians  were  more  numerous  and  more  powerful  than  they  are  now, 
surely  it  could  be  done  in  a  comparatively  civilized  country  by  intelli 
gent  Americans,  with  aU  the  lights  of  experience  and  the  co-operation 
of  a  beneficent  government. 

"  At  Nome  Cult  Valley,  during  the  winter  of  1858-59,  more  than  a 
hundred  and  fifty  peaceable  Indians,  including  women  and  children, 
were  cruelly  slaughtered  by  the  whites  who  had  settled  there  under 
oflBcial  authority,  and  most  of  whom  derived  their  support  either  ft-om 
actual  or  indirect  connection  with  the  reservation.  It  was  alleged 
that  they  had  driven  off  and  eaten  private  cattle.  Upon  an  investiga- 
tion of  this  charge,  made  by  the  officers  of  the  army,  it  was  found  to 
be  entirely  destitute  of  truth  ;  a  few  cattle  had  been  lost,  or  probably 
killed  by  white  men,  and  this  was  the  whole  basis  of  the  massacre. 
Armed  parties  went  into  the  rancherias  in  open  day,  when  no  evil 
was  apprehended,  and  shot  the  Indians  down — weak,  harmless,  and 
defenceless  as  they  were — without  distinction  of  age  or  sex  ;  shot 
down  women  with  sucking  babes  at  their  breasts  ;  killed  or  crippled 
the  naked  children  that  were  running  about;  and,  after  they  had 
achieved  this  brave  exploit,  appealed  to  the  State  Government  for 
aid !  Oh,  shame,  shame !  where  is  thy  blush,  that  white  men  should 
do  this  with  impunity  in  a  civilized  country,  under  the  very  eyes  of 
an  erdightened  government  1  They  did  it,  and  they  did  more !  For 
days,  weeks,  and  months  they  ranged  the  hills  of  Nome  Cult,  killing 
every  Indian  that  was  too  weak  to  escape  ;  and,  what  is  worse,  they 
did  it  under  a  State  Commission,  which,  in  all  charity,  I  must  believe 
was  issued  upon  false  representations.  A  more  cruel  series  of  out- 
rages than  those  perpetrated  upon  the  poor  Indians  of  Nome  Cult 
never  disgraced  a  community  of  white  men.  The  State  said  the 
settlers  must  be  protected,  and  it  protected  them — protected  them 
from  women  and  children,  for  the  men  are  too  imbecile  and  too  abject 
to  fight. 

"  During  the  winter  of  last  year  a  number  of  them  were  gathered 
at  Humboldt.  The  whites  thought  it  was  a  favorable  oiJ^wrtimity  for 
getting  rid  of  them  altogether.  So  they  went  in  a  body  to  the  Indian 
camp,  during  the  night,  when  the  poor  wretches  were  asleep,  shot  all 
the  men,  women,  and  children  they  could  at  the  first  onslaught,  and 
cut  the  throats  of  the  remainder.  Very  few  escaped.  Next  morning 
sixty  bodies  lay  weltering  in  their  blood — the  old  and  the  young,  male 
and  female — with  every  wound  gaping  a  tale  of  horror  to  the  civilized 


164  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

•world.  Children  climbed  upon  their  mothers'  breasts  and  sought 
nourishment  from  the  fountains  that  death  had  drained ;  girls  and 
boys  lay  here  and  there  with  their  throats  cut  from  ear  to  ear ;  men 
and  women,  clinging  to  each  other  in  their  terror,  were  found  per- 
forated with  bullets  or  cut  to  pieces  with  knives — all  were  cruelly  mur- 
dered I  Let  any  who  doubt  this  read  the  newspapers  of  San  Francisco 
of  that  date.  It  will  be  found  there  in  its  most  bloody  and  tragic  de- 
tails. Let  them  read  of  the  Pitt  River  massacre,  and  of  all  the  mas- 
sacres that,  for  the  past  three  years,  have  darkened  the  records  of  the 
State." 

K  such  a  record  as  this  can  be  read  in  the  pages  of  Harpefs  Maga- 
zine, in  what  language  would  the  exiled  Franciscan  describe  this  un- 
holy march  of  modern  civilization  ? 


m  J»loKTH  America.  165 


CHAPTER  ym. 

The  Devotion  in  Maine — Sillery  and  Chaitoxere  its  Nurseries — The 
Wampum  Belt  for  Our  Lady  of  Chartres — The  Vow  of  the 
OwENAGUNGA — The  Mission  of  the  Kennebec — The  Murder  of 
Father  Easle — The  Catholio  Eed-skin  and  the  Puritan  Council. 

From  the  crimson  record  of  tlie  Iroquois  we  turn  to 
a  gentler  race  ; — from  the  struggle  of  Christianity  with 
sanguinary  paganism,  along  the  bright  lakes  of  New 
York,  to  the  serene  and  beautiful  rise  of  the  Morning 
Star  over  the  hills  and  pine-forests  of  Maine. 

The  reader  will  perhaps  recollect  that  fine  Catholic 
gentleman  and  knight  of  Malta,  Brulart  de  Sillery ; — 
how  he  renounced  the  world  that  favored  him ;  left 
his  king  who  honored,  and  his  country  which  was 
proud  of  him,  to  consecrate  himself  to  God  in  the 
wilds  of  the  New  World ;  how,  "  to  testify  his  gratitude 
for  the  wondrous  favors  received  from  the  Mother  of 
Mercy,"  he  founded  the  Mission  of  St.  Joseph ;  and 
how  he  hoped,  "  by  the  merits  and  powerful  help  of 
the  Holy  Virgin  Mother  of  God,"  to  "  attract,  assemble, 
and  settle  the  wandering  savages,  as  the  surest  means 
of  their  conversion."  By  that  powerful  help  the  foun- 
dation succeeded ;  numbers  of  Algonquins  and  Mon- 
tagnais  forsook  their  nomad  hfe  to  gather  round  the 
"  black-robes,"  to  live  by  tillage  of  the  soil,  and  to  ex- 


166  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

liibit,  by  their  lives,  a  simplicity  and  fervor  of  intelli- 
gent faith  which  races,  self  called  superior,  would  do 
well  to  emulate. 

Eminent  among  these,  for  his  many  virtues,  was  the 
Algonquin,  Charles  Meiaskwat.  Hearing,  one  day, 
that  a  party  of  his  pagan  clansmen  had  taken  some 
Abenaki  prisoners  and  were  torturing  them,  though 
they  were  not  enemies,  he  hurried  in  pursuit  and  res- 
cued the  captives,  but  not  until  they  had  been  most 
savagely  treated.  But  he  brought  them  down  to  Sil- 
lery,  or  St.  Joseph's,  and  there  the  Hospital  Nuns, 
fi'om  the  Quebec  foundation,  dressed  their  wounds,  and 
attended  them  with  their  usual  gentle  charity  untU 
they  were  quite  recovered.  When  they  went  home, 
well  armed  and  clothed,  Meiaskwat  accompanied  them, 
visited  their  towns  on  the  Kennebec,  and  preached 
Christ  and  His  blessed  faith  to  them.  One  sagamo,  or 
chief,  returned  with  him  to  Quebec,  was  instructed  and 
baptized.  His  example  was  followed.  In  a  little 
while,  no  Abenaki,  or,  as  New  Yorkers  called  them, 
OwenagTinga,  village  was  without  two  or  three  Chris- 
tians. Finally,  on  the  feast  of  the  Mother  of  God's 
Assumption  into  heaven,  year  1646,  they  formally 
asked  for  black-robes.  And  then  two  Jesuits  went 
forth  from  their  central  house  in  Quebec — Isaac 
Jogues  to  the  New  York  Iroquois,  Gabriel  DruUlettes 
to  the  tribes  of  Maine. 

Father  Gabriel  was  received  by  a  docUe  and  gentle, 
although  heroically  brave  people.  In  three  months  he 
could  catechize  and  preach  in  their  own  tongue ;  and 


m  North  Ameeica.  167 

he  labored,  on  and  off,  as  the  necessities  of  other  mis- 
sion stations  required,  until  1657 ;  by  which  time  the 
good  seed  was  sown  and  had  sprung  up,  never  to  be 
eradicated.  Although  they  were  often  without  a  mis- 
sionary for  long  years  at  a  time,  yet  they  remained 
steadfast  in  the  faith.  Before  the  attack  on  Fort  Pen- 
quid,  in  1689,  we  find  all  the  braves  fortifying  them- 
selves by  the  Holy  Sacrament;  and  during  all  that 
expedition  they  said  the  Rosary  of  Our  Blessed  Lady 
perpetually,  without  intermission  even  at  meal-time.' 
Judge,  then,  if  they  had  not  received  into  fervent  souls 
devotion  to  the  Queen  of  Ajigels,  And  be  not  sur- 
prised at  their  fidelity  through  the  long  residence  of 
Father  Basics  and  Father  Vincent  Bigot  among  them  ; 
nor  yet  that  they  remain  to-day  pure  and  fervent 
Cathohcs  amid  the  temptation,  vices,  and  irreligion  of 
effete  Puritanism.  From  about  1680  to  1700  the  mis- 
sionaries, unable  to  live  amongst  these  tribes,  sought 
to  draw  them  nearer  to  Quebec,  whence  spiritual  and 
physical  help  could  be  more  easily  procured. 

In  a  little  while  the  men  of  the  Kennebec  outnum- 
bered the  vanishing  Algonquins  in  Sillery,  and  for  years 
the  Mission  was  called  the  Abenaki.  Then  Father 
James  Bigot,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  founded  the 
Mission  of  St.  Frangois  de  Sales,  on  the  beautiful  Falls 
of  the  Chaudiere,  not  far  from  the  spot  where  your 
modem  maps  show  you  three  townships  of  St.  Mary 
side  by  side.     In  1685,  the  new  reduction  absorbed 

'  Shea's  Indian  Missions,  p.  143. 


168  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

that  of  Sillerj.  Two  letters'  of  Father  Bigot,  now  be- 
fore us,  are  filled  with  edifying  details  of  these  most 
fervent  American  Catholics — these  faithful  American 
devotees  of  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God.  They  were 
poor  to  extremity,  their  village  seemed  a  favorite  abode 
for  epidemics,  yet  men,  women,  and  children  exhibited 
a  firm,  resigned  love  for  the  holy  will  of  God,  most 
edifying  and  most  instructive  to  the  civilized  white,  if, 
indeed,  he  would  take  advantage  thereof.  Their  pecu- 
liar rehgious  characteristics,  if  we  may  say  pecuhar 
where  all  were  so  good,  were  an  intense  trustful  love 
for  Jesus  crucified,  and  a  zeal  for  and  practice  of  per- 
fect purity  in  honor  of  His  Immaculate  Mother.  Ten- 
derly they  used  to  call  upon  her  beautiful  name  in 
their  sickness,  and  fondly  summon  her  to  the  couch  of 
death  with  prayers.  To  her  they  sent  their  choicest 
wampum  necklaces,  the  work  of  a  whole  long  winter's 
leisure.  Do  you  smile  at  the  poor  oifering  of  Indian 
beads  ?  send  your  own  necklaces  and  bracelets  of  gold 
and  ruby,  in  the  spirit  of  the  simple  Abenaki,  and  then 
you  may  smile  with  more  satisfaction  to  yourselves  and 
edification  to  your  neighbor. 

Among  the  treasures  of  the  famous  cathedral  of  Our 
Lady  of  Chartres,''  France,  you  may  still  see,  preserved 

'  The  letters,  printed  from  the  originals,  form  part  of  an  exquisite 
series,  contributed,  among  so  many  other  things,  to  American  Christian 
history,  by  the  indefatigable  zeal  and  taste  of  John  Gilmary  Shea. 

"  As  this  celebrated  cathedral  has  not  been  described  in  the  work  of 
the  Abbe  Orsini,  and  as  it  had  so  close  a  connection  with  our  poor  little 
American  Mission,  a  note  descriptive  of  it,  and  explanatory  of  a  reliquary 
soon  to  be  mentioned,  will  follow  the  notice  of  the  Huron  reduction. 


IN  NoETH  America.  169 

with  reverence,  a  band  of  tliis  sea-shell  wampum,  all 
that  the  American  had  of  most  precious  sent  to  Our 
Lady,  as  a  token  of  their  simple  love,  in  1695.  The 
ground  is  violet,  and  in  white  letters  you  may  read  this 
inscription : 

"  MATEI  VIEGINI  ABNAQUICEI,  D.  D." 

"  To  the  Virgin  Mother,  her  most  devoted  Abenakis." 
The  chapter  of  the  gi-eat  cathedral  received  the  offer- 
ing as  it  would  have  received  the  jewelled  gift  of  a 
king,  and  wrote  affectionately  to  the  poor  Indians  a 
thousand  leagues  away.  Whatever  taste  and  power  of 
dehcate  labor  the  Owenagunga  could  bestow,  were 
lavished  on  this  belt.  The  best  workers  of  the  village 
were  employed,  the  choicest  and  most  perfect  beads 
carefully  selected.  And  this  they  entreat  the  clergy  of 
the  cathedral  "to  offer  as  their  httle  present  to  the 
most  Blessed  Virgin."  "Though  it  be  only  Indian 
work,"  they  say,  "  our  sacred  Mother  will  see  by  it  our 
hearts,  and  all  the  sentiments  of  love  and  tenderness 
with  which  we  offer  it.  We  have  aheady  offered  it 
here,  placing  it  at  the  foot  of  her  image  during  two 
whole  novenas,  praying  for  you;  and  at  the  end  of 
each  day's  Mass  chanting  the  Inviolafa  henigna  Regina 
3Iaria."  These  novenas  commenced,  one  on  the  Feast 
of  the  Assumption  of  Our  Lady,  the  other  on  that  of 
her  sinless  Nativity.  "Ah,"  cries  Father  Vincent 
Bigot,  in  writing  of  these  Indians,  "  if  you  could  hear 
them  sing  at  the  Holy  Mass ;  if  you  beheld  their  fer- 
vor, their  innocence,  their  extreme  abhorrence  of  even 

8 


170  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

the  least  fault,  tlieir  docility  for  the  sacred  mysteries, 
their  love  for  Jesus  Christ  crucified,  and  for  His 
Blessed  Mother,  which  attain  to  a  very  great  tender- 
ness, to  an  heroic  desire  for  suffering,  and  all  the  marks 
of  predestination  which  accompany  their  holy  death, 
you  would  be  greatly  touched."'  The  chapter  of 
Chartres  having  made  some  presents  to  the  httle 
church  of  Chaudiere,  the  hearts  of  the  forest  children 
overflow  with  gratitude.  "  "We  always  loved  the  blessed 
Virgin  Mother,"  they  write,*  "  we  always  honored  her 
sincerely  ;  but  now  it  seems  that  your  kind  gifts  have 
redoubled  our  affection  and  reverence  for  our  good 
Lady.  Some  years  ago  we  consecrated  to  her  our  vil- 
lage, our  persons,  all  that  we  have,  and  all  that  we  are. 
Each  year,  on  the  day  when  she  was  assumed,  body 
and  soul,  into  heaven,  we  renew  that  consecration. 
Present  our  poor  Kttle  gift  to  Mary,  and,  what  we 
especially  desu-e,  cause  that  this  very  paper  touch  her 
shrine.  Maybe,  from  that,  fresh  ardor  will  be  con- 
veyed to  us  here,  to  augment  our  love  for  our  sacred 
Princess.  We  have  said.  Let  this  belt  of  wampum 
confirm  our  words." 

The  present  sent  from  Chartres  was,  as  we  find  by 
a  letter  from  Rev.  Pere  Aubery,  written  sixty  years 
later,  a  very  beautiful  statue  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  in 
silver,  a  copy  of  that  known  as  Notre  Dame  sous  terre, 
or  under-ground,   so    called    from    the   subterranean 

*  Les  Voeux  des  Hurons  et  des  Abnaqviis  a  Notre  Dame  de  Chartres  ■ 
par  M.  Doublet  de  Boistliibault.    Chartres,  1857,  p.  32. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  34-38. 


IN  North  Ameeica.  171 

chapel,  which  -will  be  described  in  a  note.  This  letter 
is  signed  by  the  missionary  and  six  Abenaki  chiefs. 

The  letters  of  their  missionaries  are  full  of  simple 
little  traits  of  devotion  to  St.  Mary  the  Virgin.  Some- 
times they  would  want  the  Indian  names,  family  names 
of  the  women,  to  distinguish  in  their  registers  one  from 
another,  and  they  would  find  the  greatest  difficulty  in 
getting  them,  "My  name  is  Mary,"  they  would  say. 
"  But  I  want  your  Indian  name — your  Abenaki  name." 
And  the  answer  would  be,  "I  have  no  other  name ; 
Abenaki  name  no  good  ;  my  name  is  Mary !"  Almost 
every  woman  was  a  Mary;  if  they  did  not  get  that 
name  in  baptism,  they  took  it  in  confirmation,  or  they 
would  go  and  ask  permission  of  their  pastor  to  be 
called  henceforward  by  the  beloved  name.  Or,  after 
Mass,  they  would  hnger  in  the  church,  even  in  the 
depth  of  winter,  to  recommend  their  resolutions  and 
their  good  thoughts  especially  to  her.  And,  after  all, 
what  else  could  they  do,  since  they  w^ere  consecrated 
to  her  individually  and  as  a  people  ? 

It  was  on  the  Feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception 
that  this  solemn  dedication,  or  donation  as  they  called 
it,  took  place.  They  adorned,  as  well  as  they  could, 
the  chapel  of  Our  Lady  in  the  church  at  Sillery,  ex- 
posing to  veneration  their  beautiful  silver  statue  ;  and, 
for  many  days  after,  they  practised  particular  devo- 
tions in  honor  of  their  elected  Queen.'     Then,  every 


>  Relation  de  ce  qui  s'est  passe  de  plus  remarquable  dans  la  Mission 
Abnaquaise  de  Sainct  Joseph  de  Sillery  et  de  Sainct  Francois  de  Sales 
Tannee  1665  :  par  le  Pere  Jacques  Bigot  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus 


172  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

year,  on  tlie  Feast  of  the  Assumption,  they  bore  the 
image  in  procession  to  bless  the  village  at  Chaudiere, 
and  solemnly  renewed  their  gift.  This  was  their  act 
of  donation : 

"  Great  Mary,  may  the  heavens  and  earth  bear  wit- 
ness to  our  sincerity.  May  aU  thy  friends  gathered 
now  in  heaven  hear  us,  and  be  glad  that  we  thus  imi- 
tate them.  Let  them  testify  that  our  hearts  and  our 
words  accord.  May  Jesus,  our  Lord  and  our  God, 
acknowledge  our  sincerity,  who  hath  willed  His  in- 
fancy to  be  governed  by  thee,  who  so  miraculously 
gave  him  birth ;  who  hath  made  the  universe  confess 
thee  Lady  of  aU,  almost  as  though  He  had  placed  His 
sovereign  dominion  in  thy  hands.  May  He,  whom  we 
hail  as  Lord,  behold  our  hearts,  see  that  we  have  but 
one  thought,  that  thou  shalt  be  forever  our  Lady  and 
our  Queen.  And  thou,  O  Mary,  hear  us  from  heaven, 
where  thou  art  throned  in  incomparable  splendor; 
hear  us,  and  accept  what  we  offer. 

"  O  Mary,  Virgin  Mother  of  God,  we  have  long 
waited  for  this  day  to  choose  thee  for  our  Queen, 
for  hitherto  we  have  been  but  obscurely  thine.  Take, 
then,  possession  of  us  and  ours.  We  make  thee  mis- 
tress of  our  village,  and  therefore  have  we  borne  thine 
image  hither.  If  in  any  of  our  lodges  thou  shouldst 
see  what  can  displease  thee,  hasten  to  remove  it.  May 
all  anger,  and  disunion,  and  e\'il  speaking,  aU  impurity, 
drunkenness,  and  every  other  sin,  take  flight  before 
the  approach  of  thy  sinless  steps.  May  the  demon  not 
dare  to  injure  a  land  which  belongs  to  thee.     Do  not 


IN  North  America.  173 

disdain  to  dwell  with  us,  since,  Laving  thee,  we  shaU 
have  the  virtues  that  go  with  thee,  and  that  remain 
where  thou  art,  gentleness,  unitedness,  charity,  docility. 
Do  not  refuse  to  dwell  with  us,  great  and  glorious 
Lady.  Though  among  us,  vile  and  contemptible  as  we 
are,  thy  grandeur  will  not  be  obscin-ed,  but  our  lowli- 
ness and  our  wretchedness  will  give  it  new  splendor  by 
the  contrast. 

"  This,  our  blessed  Princess,  is  what  we  have  to  say. 
Would  to  God  that  our  words  were  engraven  upon  the 
rock,  never  to  be  effaced.  But  they  will  not  vanish, 
for  they  are  WTitten  on  our  hearts.  They  are  im- 
printed on  the  tender  hearts  even  of  our  little  children. 
They  will  hand  them  down,  and  our  remote  descend- 
ants shall  know  how  we  loved  thee  and  recognized 
thee  as  our  Queen.  So  shall  our  example  teach  them 
to  love  and  serve  thee.  Woe  to  him  who  would  destroy 
our  affection,  or  change  the  sentiments  we  have  for 
thee !  Eather  may  the  brooks  cease  to  flow,  and  the 
sun  to  shine,  yea,  aU  things  to  exist,  than  that  one  of 
our  descendants  should  prove  disloyal  to  thee.  Love 
us,  then,  Mary,  our  great  Queen ;  procure  for  us  the 
favor  of  thy  Son ;  and  may  we  one  day  behold  with 
joy  His  unutterable  glory  and  thine.  We  have 
spoken." ' 

This  was  the  school  in  which  the  true  Americans  of 
Maine  learned  the  faith  which  they  practise  stiU  on  the 
banks  of  the  Penobscot  and  Kennebec. 

*  Vceux  des  Hurons,  pp.  39-41. 


174  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Makt 

Wlien,  after  a  time,  the  Missions  were  re-established 
in  their  own  country,  by  the  salmon-filled  streams  of 
Maine,  we  find  no  diminution  in  the  fervor  of  these 
red-skinned  children  of  Saint  Mary.     Father  Thury,  at 
Panawaniske,  on  the  Penobscot ;  the  KecoUect  Father 
Simon,  at  Medoktek,  on  the  St.  John's ;  and  Father 
Vincent  Bigot  and  Father  Bale,  or  Basle,  on  the  Ken- 
nebec, were  steadfast  laborers  by  1688.     Bigot'  has 
two  especial  themes  of  praise  in  his  people,  their  fervor 
for  the  Most  Adorable  Eucharist,  and  then-  love  for 
Mary.     The  first  thing  in  the  morning,  the  last  thing 
at  night,  was  a  visit  to  our  Lord,  if  only  for  a  few 
moments  :  going  to  or  returning  from  work,  they  made 
it  a  law  to  go  salute,  at  least,  the  Most  Holy.     So  fre- 
quent were  these  visits  of  the  children,  women,  and 
men,  that  Father  Bigot  declares  it  was  like  a  continual 
little  procession  to  and  from  the  chapel.     So  constant 
a  habit  had  some  of  them  formed  of  spiritual  union 
with  our  Lord  and  his  blessed  Mother,  that  none  of 
their  occupations  could  distract  them  from  it.     An  old 
chief  blesses  God  for  his  bhndness,  since  nothing  now 
can  attract  his  sight  from  the  wounds  of  the  Crucified 
and  the  beautiful  face  of  Mary.     Maidens  die  in  their 
bloom,  blessing  her  for  taking  them  unfettered  by  mar- 
riage and  its  distracting  cares.     A  young  man,  whose 
right  arm  was  dropping  to  pieces  from  necrosis  of  the 
bone,  would  ask  her  pardon  for  the  irrepressible  groans 


'  Relation  de  ce  qui  s'est  passe  dans  la  Mission  des  Abnaquis  a 
I'Acadie  I'annee  1701. 


IN  NOKTH  A]!JEEICA.  175 

uTung  from  bim  by  liis  bitter  pain.  To  tlie  priest  ask- 
ing a  young  girl  dying,  if  they  could  do  nothing  to 
assuage  her  sufferings,  she  answered,  "No,  father,  I 
can  wish  for  nothing  more.  The  Mother  of  Jesus,  my 
good  mother,  knows  that  I  have, no  more  fervent  and 
continual  desire  than  to  see  her  face."  * 

An  Indian  who  desires  to  reach  a  point  has  a  way 
of  going  straight  at  it.  Not  remarkable  for  syllogistic 
abiHties,  he  has  a  shorter  method  of  reaching  correct 
conclusions.  The  Mohawk,  when  the  Albany  Dutch- 
man sneered  at  her  for  honoring  Mary,  asked  to  whom 
he  prayed.  He  said,  to  Christ  his  God.  But  she 
shaking  her  head  gi'avely,  said,  "Guess  not  pray 
much  ;  no  have  honor  for  Mother,  no  have  much  for 
Son."  One  of  the  Kennebec  chiefs,  of  Bigot's  time, 
was  taunted  with  the  errors  of  his  creed,  in  his  visits 
to  the  Enghsh  settlements,  and  urged  by  the  people 
to  adopt  theirs.  "Which  of  them ?"  asked  the  red-man, 
"  for  no  two  of  you  have  the  same."  Of  course  they 
must  deny  the  power  of  the  Blessed  Virgin ;  for  they 
could  see  the  scapular  on  his  swarthy  chest,  or  the 
beads  and  medal  twisted  into  his  head-di-ess ;  but  he 
fought  the  usual  battle  with  them,  and  gave  himseK  as 
an  example  to  prove  his  doctrines.  "  You  have  knoAvn 
me  long  enough,"  he  said.  "You  know  that  I  was  as 
big  a  drunkard  as  ever  hved.  Well,  God  has  had  pity 
on  me ;  and  I  can  defy  any  one  to  reproach  me  with 
having  tasted  wine  or  brandy  for  many  years.     To 

»  Relation,  p.  26. 


176  Detotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maet 

whom  am  I  obliged  for  this  but  to  our  holj  Ladj,  to 
the  Mother  of  Jesus.  For  to  her  I  had  recourse  in  my 
extreme  feebleness,  for  grace  to  conquer  my  inveterate 
habit  of  drunkenness;  and  by  her  help  I  conquered 
it.  After  that,  will  you  tell  me  that  the  saints  do  not 
hear  us ;  that  it  is  useless  to  address  ourselves  to  the 
Mother  of  God  ?  I  believe  none  of  your  words  ;  you 
are  deceivers.  My  own  experience  convinces  me  ;  and 
know  you  this,"  and  the  brave,  a  reno^Tied  one,  drew 
himself  up,  and  his  dark  Indian  eye  kindled,  "know 
this,  that  I  will  love  and  bless  the  holy  Virgin  to  the 
last  breath  of  my  life.  For  I  am  sure  that  she  is  glad 
now,  and  that  sh^  will  recompense  me  for  defending 
her  cause  against  you."* 

Father  Vincent  Bigot  is  succeeded  by  Sebastian 
Basle,  another  of  that  grand  "  Company  of  Jesus."  On 
his  thirty  years'  mission  we  shall  touch  but  hghtly.  In 
1705,  one  Hilton,  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  New  Eng- 
landers,  burnt  the  church  and  village  of  Norridgewock, 
profaned  the  sanctuary,  and  withdrew.  In  1713,  after 
the  peace  of  Utrecht,  some  of  the  chiefs  went  to  Boston 
to  hire  workmen  to  rebuild  their  church.  "  I  will  re- 
build it  for  you,"  said  the  governor,  "  if  you  will  dismiss 
your  missionary  and  receive  one  whom  I  will  send  you." 

"  Listen,"  said  the  warrior  in  answer.  "  You  saw 
and  knew  me  long  before  the  French,  but  neither  youi* 
predecessors  nor  your  ministers  ever  spoke  to  me  of 
prayer  or  of  the  Great  Spirit.     They  saw  my  furs,  my 

'  Relation,  pp.  9, 10. 


IN  North  America.  177 

beaver,  and  my  moose-skins ;  these  tliey  sought  alone, 
and  so  eagerly  that  I  have  never  been  able  to  bring 
them  enough.  When  I  had  plenty,  they  were  my 
friends,  and  only  then.  One  day  my  canoe  missed  the 
route,  and  I  wandered  a  long  time,  having  lost  my  way. 
At  last  I  landed  near  Quebec,  in  a  great  village  of  Al- 
gonquins,  where  the  black-robes  were  teaching.  As 
soon  as  I  had  arrived,  one  of  them  came  to  me.  I  was 
loaded  with  furs,  but  the  black-robe  of  France  dis- 
dained to  look  at  them.  He  spoke  to  me  of  the  Great 
Spu'it,  of  heaven,  of  hell,  of  the  prayer  which  is  the 
only  way  to  reach  heaven.  I  heard  his  words  with 
pleasure,  and  remained  in  the  village  near  him.  At 
last,  the  prayer  pleased  me  and  I  asked  for  instruction. 
Then  I  asked  for  baptism,  and  received  it.  *  *  * 
Now  I  hold  to  the  prayer  of  the  French  ;  I  agree  to  it ; 
I  shall  be  faithful  to  it,  until  even  the  earth  is  burnt 
and  destroyed.  Keep  yoiu'  men,  your  gold,  and  your 
minister.     I  will  go  to  my  French  father."  ' 

For  thirty  years  now,  has  Father  Sebastian  Easle 
dwelt  in  the  forest,  teaching  to  its  wild,  red  children 
the  love  of  God  and  Mary.  He  is  burned  by  sun  and 
tanned  by  vnnd  until  he  is  almost  as  red  as  his  parish- 
ioners. The  languages  of  the  Abenaki  and  Huron, 
the  Algonquin  and  HHnois,  are  more  famihar  to  him 
than  the  tongue  in  which  his  mother  taught  him  the 
Ave  Maria.  The  huts  of  Norridgewock  contain  his 
people ;  the  river  Kennebec  flows  swiftly  past  his  dwell- 

'  Shea's  Missions. 
M  8* 


178  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

ing,  to  the  sea.  There  he  has  built  a  church — hand- 
some, he  thinks  and  says ;  .perhaps  it  would  not  much 
excite  our  more  luxurious  imagination.  At  any  rate, 
the  altar  is  handsome ;  and  he  has  gathered  a  store  of 
copes  and  chasubles,  albs  and  embroidered  stoles,  for 
the  dignity  of  the  holy  service.  He  has  trained,  also, 
as  many  as  forty  Indian  boys  in  the  ceremonies,  and,  in 
their  crimson  cassocks  and  white  surphces,  they  aid  the 
sacred  pomp.  Besides  the  church,  there  are  two 
chapels,  one  on  the  road  which  leads  to  the  forest, 
where  the  braves  are  wont  to  make  a  short  retreat 
before  they  start  to  trap  and  hunt ;  the  other  on  the 
path  to  the  cvdtivated  lands,  where  prayers  are  offered 
when  they  go  to  plant  or  gather  in  the  harvest.  The 
one  is  dedicated  to  the  Guardian  Angel  of  the  tribe ; 
the  other  to  our  most  holy  Mother,  Mary  Immaculate. 
To  adorn  this  latter  is  the  especial  emulation  of  the 
women.  Whatever  they  have  of  jewels,  of  silk  stuff 
from  the  settlements,  or  deHcate  broidery  of  porcupine 
quill,  or  richly  tinted  moose-hair,  is  found  here;  and 
from  amidst  their  offerings,  rises,  white  and  fan-,  the 
statue  of  the  Virgin ;  and  her  sweet  face  looks  down 
benignantly  upon  her  swarthy  children,  kneeling  before 
her  to  recite  their  rosaries. 

One  beautiful  inanimate  ministrant  to  God's  worship 
they  have  in  abundance — hght  fi'om  wax  candles.  The 
wax  is  not  precisely  o^us  apiiim,  but  it  is  a  nearer  ap- 
proach to  it  than  you  find  in  richer  and  less  excusable 
places.  It  is  wax  from  the  berry  of  the  laurels  which 
cover  the  hiUs  of  Maine. 


IN  North  Ajieeica.  179 

And  to  the  chapel  every  night  and  morning  come  all 
the  Indian  Christains.  At  morning  thej  make  their 
prayer  in  common ;  and  assist  at  Mass,  chanting,  in 
their  own  dialect,  hymns  written  for  that  piirj)ose  by 
their  pastor.  Then  they  go  to  their  employment  for 
the  day :  he  to  his  continuous,  orderly,  and  ceaseless 
labor.  The  morning  is  given  up  to  visitors,  who  come 
to  their  good  father  with  their  sorrows  or  disquietudes; 
to  ask  his  relief  against  some  Httle  injustice  of  their 
fellows ;  his  advice  on  their  marriage  or  other  projects. 
He  consoles  this  one,  instructs  that ;  re-establishes 
peace  in  disunited  families ;  calms  troubled  consciences ; 
administers  gentle  rebuke,  or  gives  encouragement  to 
the  timid.  The  afternoon  belongs  to  the  sick,  who  are 
visited  in  their  own  cabins.  If  there  be  a  council,  the 
black-robe  must  come  to  invoke  the  Holy  Spirit  on 
its  dehberations  ;  if  a  feast,  he  must  be  present  to  bless 
the  viands  and  to  check  all  approaches  to  disorder. 
And  always  in  the  afternoon,  old  and  young  warrior 
and  gray-haired  squaw.  Christian  and  catechumen,  as- 
semble for  the  catechism.  When  the  sun  declines  west- 
ward, and  the  shadows  creep  over  the  village,  they 
seek  the  chapel  for  the  pubhc  prayer,  and  to  sing  a 
hymn  to  St.  Mary.  Then  each  to  his  home  ;  but  before 
bedtime  neighbors  gather  again,  in  the  house  of  one  of 
them,  and,  in  antiphonal  choirs,  they  sing  their  beads, 
and  with  another  hymn  they  separate  for  sleep.' 

>  Lettre  du  R.  Pere  Sebastian  Rasle,  1722,  tiree  de  la  Choix  des 
Lettres  edifiantes  ecrites  dea  Missions  etrangeres.  Paris,  1809,  vol 
vii.,  p.  395-413. 


180  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maki 

Wlien  they  go  to  tlie  seaside  for  tlieir  fisliiug,  they 
bear  with  them,  as  wandering  Israel  bore  the  taber- 
nacle, a  chajDel  formed  of  bark,  that  they  may  have  the 
consolations  of  religion,  while  exposed  to  danger  and 
temptation.  And  now  compare  this  picture  of  the 
progress  of  devotion  to  Our  Lady,  with  any  march  of 
Protestantism  among  the  Indians.  Eead  the  French 
Catholic's  mission  to  the  Algonquin,  Abenaki,  Huron, 
and  Iroquois ;  or,  in  our  own  day,  to  the  Kaw,  the 
Osage,  and  the  Flathead ;  and  the  work  of  Protestant 
England  or  the  United  States  among  the  Seminoles, 
the  Pottowattomies,  or  the  Pueblos.  One  carries  the 
beads,  purity,  and  civiUzation;  the  other  a  whiskey 
bottle,  defilement,  and  death.  One  thing,  in  a  reh- 
gious  way,  the  descendant  of  the  Puritan  is  pretty  apt 
to  do — namely,  to  attempt  the  destruction  of  his  neigh- 
bor's rehgion.  Boston  contributes  a  minister  to  effect, 
if  possible,  this  end,  even  in  the  wilds  of  Maine  a 
hundred  years  ago.  He  reaches  the  mouth  of  the 
Kennebec,  and  building  a  school-house  there,  does  his 
best  to  entice  the  children  to  it  by  presents  and 
caresses.  This  failing,  he  attempts  their  parents,  and 
snuffles  out  to  them  nasal  denunciations  of  the  Sacra- 
ments, purgatory,  invocation  of  Saints,  the  beads,  the 
cross,  the  altar  lights,  and  images.  Then  Father 
Easle,  from  his  lodge,  leagues  away  in  the  forest, 
writes  him  a  Latin  letter,  sixty-two  pages  of  it,  full  of 
instruction  on  these  topics,  and  of  charitable  recom- 
mendation to  let  the  Lidians  alone.  And  the  divine 
replies,  swiftly,  that  the  arguments  are  childish;  and  so 


IN  NOETH  AjIHERICA.  181 

wends  back  to  Boston  to  inform  the  august  community 
there  of  how  he  had  been  persecuted  by  the  Jesuits. 

So,  in  1722,  Norridgewock  was  attacked  by  a  force  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  New  Englanders,  for  after  the 
war  broke  out  the  Abenaki  adhered  to  the  Erench  Cath- 
ohc,  rather  than  to  the  Enghsh  Puritan.  A  few  old 
men,  women,  and  children  only  were  in  the  village  ;  but 
the  Puritans  were  after  the  priest.  He  had  time  to 
consume  the  sacred  hosts  in  the  tabernacle,  and  to 
escape  on  his  snow-shoes.  But  they  pHlaged  the 
church  and  his  lodge,  and  carried  off  every  thing,  even 
to  his  inkstand.  They  still  show  with  pride,  in  Har- 
vard College,  his  manuscript  Abenaki  dictionary,  made 
•with  such  long  toil  and  patience,  and  bravely  con- 
quered by  two  hundred  and  fifty  advancers  of  civiliza- 
tion from  an  old  ecclesiastic  and  a  handful  of  squaws 
and  papooses.  Father  Basle  had  broken  both  legs 
some  time  before,  and  yet  he  refused  to  leave  the  main 
band  of  his  people,  following  them  about  wherever  the 
necessities  of  warfare  chanced  to  lead  them.  The  New 
Englanders  never  relaxed  their  efforts  to  catch  Father 
Sebastian,  for  in  him  they  saw  the  soul  of  the  Indians. 
Accustomed  themselves  to  deify  their  own  popular 
leaders,  till  they  tired  of  them,  they  fancied  that  the 
strength  of  the  red-man  lay  not  in  the  Cathohc  faith, 
but  in  the  talents  of  the  priest. 

Him,  at  all  hazards,  they  must  have  ;  and  triumphant 
success  crowned  their  efforts  in  1724.  It  was  on  the 
feast  of  St.  Bartholomew  the  Apostle,  August  the 
twenty-fourth,  that  a  band  of  Mohawks  and  New  Eug- 


182  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maky 

lisli  burst  upon  the  town  of  the  Owenagunga.  The 
women  and  children  fled ;  a  few  young  braves  who 
were  in  the  village  caught  up  their  arms  to  withstand 
the  enemy.  But  before  they  could  be  slain,  the  priest, 
remembering  those  words  of  our  dear  Lord,  "  Bonus 
pastor  animam  suam  dot  pro  ovibus  suis,^  the  good  shep- 
herd giveth  his  hfe  for  his  sheep,"  and  knowing  himself 
to  be  the  real  object  of  the  attack,  advanced  to  meet 
his  foes.  They  saw  him  just  as  he  reached  the  village 
cross.  A  yell  of  savage  exultation,  a  volley  of  bullets, 
and  the  missionary  lay  dead  at  the  foot  of  the  symbol 
of  salvation. 

Half  a  century  later,  the  descendants  of  these  men 
were  asking  the  friendship  of  the  Owenagunga  against 
the  arms  of  Great  Britain.  The  Kennebecs,  Passama- 
quoddies,  and  Penobscots  met  the  Council  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  expressed  their  determination  to  espouse 
the  cause  of  the  colonies,  but  added :  "We  must  have  a 
French  black-robe  ;  we  wiU  have  no  '  Prayer'  that 
comes  from  you."  Orono,  the  Penobscot  chief,  bore  a 
commission  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution,  and  his 
clansmen  fought  beside  him.  "If  one  of  our  priests 
w^ould  be  agreeable  to  you,  we  wiU  endeavor  to  get 
you  one,  and  take  care  he  be  a  good  man."  Such  was 
the  offer  of  the  Council ;  but  the  answer  of  the  Abenaki 
was  still,  "  We  know  our  rehgion,  and  love  it ;  we  know 
nothing  of  you  or  youi'S."  Thus  ^faithful  to  the  teach- 
ings which    they  had  received  in   1650,   these    true 

'  St.  Jolin's  Gospel,  x.  14. 


m  NoKTH  America.  183 

American  Catliolics  contmued  to  clierisli  it,  by  rosary, 
and  crucifix,  and  earnest  prayer,  until  tliey  carried  tlie 
cross  wliicli  Father  Rasle  liad  worn,  to  Bishop  Carroll 
at  Baltimore,  and  by  it,  demanded  a  pastor  of  the  true 
faith. 
"We  shall  see  these  faithful  red-men,  briefly,  again. 


184  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The    Devotion  in  the  State  of  New  Yoek — The  Saint  or  the  Mo- 
hawks— Saint  Maey  among  the  Iboquois. 

Bkavest,  haughtiest,  handsomest,  most  adventurous 
of  all  North  American  aborigines,  were  the  clans  of  the 
warrior  Iroquois.  The  territory  which  they  dwelt  in 
was  small,  when  compared  with  the  vast  circle  travelled 
over  by  the  nomad  Algonquin,  or  the  hmitless  prairies 
of  the  mounted  Dacotah.  The  State  of  New  York, 
with  the  neighboring  parts  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio, 
held  them  all.  From  the  wide  St.  Lawrence,  they 
swept  along  the  southern  shores  of  Erie  and  Ontario, 
to  the  yellow  waters  of  the  Beautiful  Eiver.  Amid  the 
forests,  by  the  clear  blue  mountain  streams  of  New 
York,  stood  the  towns  of  the  tall,  spare  Seneca,  the 
Cayuga  and  Onondaga,  the  beautiful  Oneida  and  the 
merciless  Mohawk. 

To  white  man  and  Indian  they  were  a  teiTor  and  a 
fate.  The  far  Natchez  had  felt  their  tomahawk,  by  the 
winding  Mississippi.  At  the  echo  of  their  wild  war-cry 
the  heart  of  the  Frenchman  stopped  beating  within  the 
palisades  of  Quebec.  They  slew  the  wandering  Algon- 
quin on  the  edge  of  the  Chesapeake,  or  caught  him  as 
he  fled  on  his  sinew-woven  snow-shoes ;  and  crimsoned 


IN  North  America.  185 

the  wliite  wastes  of  Canada  with  his  blood.  They  were 
a  dread  to  the  Winnebago,  although  Lake  Michigan 
roUed  between  them ;  to  the  Chippewa  and  Menome- 
nee,  although  their  canoes  ruled  the  waters  of  Superior. 
They  chased  the  unfortunate  Huron  from  the  fur-lined 
sepulchre  of  his  fathers,  and  drove  westward  the  poor 
remnants  of  that  shattered  tribe,  as  the  wind  of  the 
autumn  drives  the  leaves  of  the  forest. 

For  their  savage  virtues  were  all  nullified  by  their 
immeasurable  barbarity.  We  have  heard  of  indi- 
viduals in  other  races,  whose  cruelty  won  for  them  a 
bad  distinction,  but  here  was  a  nation,  from  the  hum- 
blest of  whom  the  historic  tyrant  might  learn  his  art. 
In  stealth  they  w^ere  hke  serpents  ;  in  slakeless  blood- 
thirst  they  were  tigers.  The  Huron  had  no  other  name 
for  them  than  Nado-  Wessiouex — the  Cruel.  These  were 
the  enemies  of  Cartier  and  Champlain  ;  these  were  an 
incarnate  and  ceaseless  terror  to  the  rising  colonies  of 
Quebec  and  Montreal.  They  were  Iroquois  arrows 
which  quivered  through  the  palisades  of  the  fort ;  an 
Iroquois  torch  brought  the  new  mission-house  to  ashes ; 
an  Iroquois  tomahawk  sent  the  first  priests  to  heaven. 
Then-  name  is  the  one  terrible  word  in  all  the  early 
writings,  in  the  letters  of  Mary  of  the  Incarnation,  of 
Marguerite  of  Our  Lady,  of  the  Jesuit  relations,  of  the 
Virgin's  knight,  Maisonneuve.  Priest  and  laborer,  nun 
and  warrior,  wound  up  the  tale  of  their  hardship  with 
horror  for  the  Iroquois.  Yet  into  the  inner  tent  of 
that  fierce  people  a  ray  from  the  loving  heart  of  Mary 
shone  at  last ;  they  learned  to  hush  the  war-whoop  and 


186  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

to  slieatli  tlie  scalping-knife  in  honor  of  her  name ; 
and  in  a  Mohawk  vOlage  which  reeked  with  Christian 
gore,  grew  as  sweet  and  gentle  a  flower  of  holiness  as 
ever  bloomed. 

Always  at  vindictive  war  with  the  Canadian  Indians, 
they  turned  their  ire  upon  the  French  when  these  made 
friends  with  the  Algonquin  and  the  "Wendat.  They  at- 
tacked the  very  forts  of  the  settlers ;  they  waylaid  their 
voyagers.  Beaten  often,  punished  as  well  as  the  small 
force  of  the  Europeans  would  allow,  they  returned  with 
redoubled  fury.  Champlaiu  and  others  chased  them 
into  their  own  country,  fired  their  villages,  and  reduced 
them  for  a  time.  They  would  make  peace  with  the 
white  man  and  bury  the  hatchet ;  but,  dug  up  again  be- 
fore the  blood  had  well  dried  upon  the  blade,  it  flamed, 
hungry  for  murder,  in  the  clutch  of  the  treacherous 
savage. .  A  favorite  method  of  foray  was  the  waylaying 
of  Huron  or  French  parties  as  they  passed  from  Mon- 
treal or  Quebec  to  the  Mission  on  the  distant  lakes. 

But  the  cross  was  to  be  planted  among  even  the 
sanguinary  Iroquois,  and  the  mode  chosen  by  God's 
wisdom  was  as  foUows.  In  the  year  of  our  Lord  1644, 
Father  Isaac  Jogues,  who  had  been  laboring  for  years 
on  the  shores  of  Huron  and  Superior,  descended  to 
Quebec  accompanied  by  a  train  of  Indians.  Twenty- 
three  in  number  they  started  from  the  Mission  of  St. 
Mary's,  in  the  Huron  country,  and  in  thirteen  daya 
reached  the  colony  of  the  Conception  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  at  Three  Eivers.  And  from  this  place  he  was 
returning  to   Saint  Mary's,  the  canoes  hugging  the 


IN  NoKTH  America.  187 

sliore  to  ayoid  the  strong  current  of  the  stream,  when 
sucldenlj  the  warwhoop  of  the  fatal  Iroquois  rang 
through  the  air  and  a  hail  of  musket-balls  rattled  about 
them.  The  pagan  Indians  leaped  at  once  from  the 
canoe  ;  but  the  Jesuit,  with  the  three  Frenchmen  and 
the  few  Christian  savages  with  him,  "offered  iip  a 
prayer  to  Christ  and  faced  the  enemy."  '  But  already, 
at  the  first  whistling  of  the  balls,  a  catechumen  had 
thrown  himseK  upon  his  knees  in  the  canoe,  and  the 
fearless  priest  had  baptized  him.  They  fought,  some 
dozen  of  them,  but  the  Ii'oquois  were  seventy  in 
number.  The  missionary  did  not  even  try  to  escape. 
Eene  Goupil,  whom  we  have  mentioned,  was  taken, 
fighting  like  a  lion.  The  next  brought  in  was  a 
famous  Christian  chief,  Ahasistari,  who  cried,  "Did 
I  not  swear,  my  father,  to  live  or  die  with  thee  !" 
Finally,  a  young  Frenchman,  "William  Couture,  who  had 
escaped,  came  back  and  gave  himself  up,  saying,  "  I 
cannot  abandon  my  dear  father."  This  heroism  won 
him  the  honor  of  instant  torture  ;  they  stripped  him  at 
once  ;  they  tore  his  nails  away,  crushed  his  fingers  with 
their  teeth,  and  ran  a  sword  through  his  right  hand. 

The  same  treatment  was  then  given  to  Father 
Jogues  and  Goupil.  But  we  wiU  recite  no  more  of 
these  brutal  tortures  here.  As  they  treated  Breboeuf, 
so  they  treated  these,  not  once,  but  twenty  times,  stop- 
ping short  only  of  death  for  the  present.  "Whenever 
they  rested,  on   their  long  journey   of  thirteen  days, 

'  Lettre  du  Pere  Isaac  Jogues  au  P.  Provincial  de  la  Province  de 
France;  apud  Relation  abregee  de  P.  Bressani,  pp.  188-346. 


188  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

torture  was  the  amusement  of  tlieir  captors ;  whenever 
they  met  another  roving  band  of  savages,  and  the 
forests  were  full  of  them,  the  torture  of  their  victims 
was  the  feast  to  which  they  welcomed  them.  Twenty- 
two  in  number,  they  filed  off  from  the  battle-ground, 
and  tramped  sadly  through  the  woods  on  their  way  to 
the  towns  of  the  Mohawk.  Through  tlie  woods  to  the 
beautiful  lakes  Champlain  and  Horicon,  and  thence, 
past  Saratoga,  across  the  country  to  the  Mohawk. 
The  last  four  miles  they  marched  on  foot,  carrying  all 
the  baggage  of  their  masters,  covered  with  putrefying 
wounds,  unfed  save  by  the  berries  which,  with  muti- 
lated hands,  they  caught  fi'om  the  bushes  on  the  road- 
side. But,  "  at  last,"  says  the  servant  of  Mary,  "  on  the 
eve  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  we  ar- 
rived at  the  first  village  of  the  Iroquois.  And  I  thank 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  He  thus  deigned  to  grant 
us  a  share  in  His  sorrows  and  His  cross,  on  the  day 
whereon  the  Christian  universe  celebrates  the  triumph 
of  His  sacred  Mother  taken  up  into  heaven." 

They  entered  the  town  of  the  barbarians  by  running 
the  gauntlet, — Jogues  comforted  as  he  went  "by  a 
vision  of  the  glory  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven,"  '  Then 
on  to  another  village,  and  so  to  a  third,  tracking  the 
whole  land  ^\ith  their  blood  ;  the  Jesuit  offering  up  his 
agonies  to  God,  instructing  his  Huron  neophytes  when- 
ever he  could  get  beside  them,  as  watchful  and  as  ready 
for  his  duties  as  a  priest,  as  if  within  the  walls  of  a 


»  Bancroft's  History  United  States,  vol.  iii.,  p.  133. 


I 
I 


IN  NoETH  America.  189 

parisli  church  in  France.  He  hears  Goupil's  confession 
as  they  drag  their  weary  limbs  through  the  forest ;  he 
baptizes  two  pleading  neophytes  as  they  wade  through 
a  woodland  stream ;  he  wi'ings  the  rain-drops  from  a 
stalk  of  corn  and  confers  upon  two  others  the  sacra- 
ment of  regeneration.  Thus,  in  constant  torture  and 
prayer,  he  lingered  until  the  Feast  of  the  Nativity  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  brought  him  hope.  Two  Hollanders 
from  Albany  arrived  to  treat  for  his  deliverance,  which 
was  effected,  however,  only  in  the  summer  of  the  next 
year.  But  before  that,  he  had  seen  his  friends  faU, 
one  by  one ;  the  Huron  chief  praying  at  the  stake  for 
his  enemies;  Goupil  tomahawked  at  the  thirty -ninth 
*'  Hail  Mary"  of  the  Kosary  ;  blood,  death,  horror, 
demon-worship  around  him. 

His  Breviary  had  long  since  been  taken  from  him, 
but  he  had  found,  from  time  to  time,  fragments  of  his 
Bible,  the  Imitation  of  Christ,  and  the  Little  Office  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin.  How  often  did  he  sit  thus  "by 
the  waters  of  Babylon,  and  weep  as  he  remembered 
Zion  !" "  "  How  often,"  he  exclaims,  "  did  I  carve  Thy 
Name,  O  Jesus  !  upon  the  taU  trees  of  the  forest ! 
How  often,  stripping  off  the  bark,  have  I  traced  there 
the  most  holy  cross  of  my  God !"  See  him  kneeling 
there,  half  clad  with  skins,  and  meditating  on  the  life 
of  his  Redeemer ;  or  watch  his  lips  as  they  move  in 
the  recitation  of  the  only  office  left  him ;  how  his  voice 
lowered  at  the  last  Tu  autem  Domvie,  miserere  nobis, 


'  Psalm,  cxssvi.  1. 


190  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

gathers  strength  again,  and  breaks  forth  in  the  anti- 
phon,  "  Felix  namque  es,  sacra  Virgo  Maria,  et  omni  laude 
dignissima;  quia  ex  te  ortus  est  Sol  Justitia,  Christus  Deus 
noster !  Blessed  art  thou  and  worthy  of  all  praise,  O 
sacred  Virgin  Marj,  for  from  thee  rose  the  Sun  of 
Eighteousness,  even  Christ  our  God!"  Thus  did  he 
teach  the  aisles  of  the  New  York  forests  to  resound,  for 
the  first  time,  with  the  sweet  and  holy  name  of  Mary. 

When,  after  a  year's  endurance  of  captivity,  he  was 
released  by  the  kind  offices  of  the  Hollanders,  he  had 
baptized  no  less  than  seventy  persons — some  captives 
and  some  converts.  They  get  him  a  passage  from 
New  York  to  England,  and  a  collier  carries  him  thence 
and  lands  him,  barefooted  and  in  tattered  sailor's  dress, 
on  the  coast  of  Brittany.  He  approaches  a  peas- 
ant's house,  and  they  rise  to  receive  the  forlorn  sailor 
kindly;  then  he  Hfts  up  his  poor  mutilated  hands  and 
blesses  them  in  the  name  of  the  Eternal.  What  shall 
he  do  with  these  hands  ?  A  priest  \\ith  but  one  thumb 
and  four  or  five  fingers  left  him !  Courage,  Confessor 
of  God;  the  Holy  Father,  Urban  VIII.,  will  settle  that. 
"  Indignum"  he  exclaims,  "indignum  esse  Christi  marty- 
rem,  Christi  non  bibere  sanguinem  !  It  were  unjust  that 
the  martyr  of  Christ  should  not  drink  the  blood  of 
Christ !"  So  the  dispensation  is  granted.  All  throng 
to  do  him  honor  ;  great  nobles  vie  in  offering  him 
their  services ;  prelates  throw  open  their  palaces ;  the 
lips  of  the  stately  Anne  of  Austria,  the  Queen  of  fair 
France,  are  reverently  pressed  to  those  deformed  and 
mangled  hands.     But  his  place  is  not  here.    Away, 


IN  North  America  191 

tlionsands  of  miles,  it  lies,  where  the  Hudson  and  the 
Mohawk  mingle  their  clear  waters  beneath  the  shadow 
of  the  immemorial  woods. 

In  the  month  consecrated  to  his  beloved  heavenly 
Queen,  he  left  his  country  for  the  last  time,  and  arrived 
just  soon  enough  to  see  a  peace  concluded  with  the 
Iroquois.  They  asked  for  "  black-robes,"  and  his  su- 
periors offered  Father  Jogues  the  mission.  ""Xes,"  he 
said,  "  I  shall  go,  and  I  shall  not  return ;  Ibo  et  non  redibo; 
but  I  will  be  happy  if  our  Lord  will  complete  the  sacri- 
fice where  he  has  begun  it,  and  make  the  little  blood  I 
have  shed  in  that  land  the  earnest  of  what  I  would 
give  from  every  vein  of  my  body  and  my  heart."  '  The 
sacrifice  was  accepted.  He  and  Father  Jean  de  La- 
lande  departed  with  the  treacherous  Iroquois.  The 
very  day  of  their  arrival  the  savages  began  to  threaten 
them.  The  next  day  they  tomahawked  them  at  the 
door  of  a  lodge  ;  their  heads  were  stuck  upon  the  pali- 
sades of  the  town  ;  their  bodies  were  thrown  into  the 
Mohawk. 

But  he  had  not  died  in  vain.  Two  churches  of  St. 
Mary°  stand  upon  the  shores  of  that  beautiful  river ; 
the  Arch  Confraternity  of  her  Immaculate  Heart  is 
established  in  the  principal  town  bathed  by  its  waters.' 
For  the  beautiful  flower  of  devotion  to  Mary  had  been 


'  Letter  to  a  friend,  in  Shea's  Narrative  of  Captivity. 

2  At  Amsterdam  and  Little  Falls.  The  place  itself  is  now  Tribes 
HUl,  just  opposite  to  the  confluence  of  Schoharie  Creek  with  the 
Mohawk. 

3  Utica. 


192  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

surely  planted  bj  Father  Jogues,  and  nurtured  with 
his  tears  and  blood  in  the  woodlands  of  New  York, 
when  he  kneeled  to  say  her  office  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross  traced  by  his  crushed  fingers  on  the  trunk  of  the 
maple.  "Beata  Dei  Genetrix  Maria"  he  had  said 
again  and  again  in  his  agony,  "  Virgo  perjoetua,  tern- 
plum  Domini,  sacrarium  Spiritus  Sancti,  sola  sine  ex- 
emplo  placuisti  Domino  Nostro  Jesu  Christo ;  ora  pro 
pqpulo  ;  interveni  pro  clero ;  intercede  pro  devoto  foimi- 
neo  sexu.  Blessed  Mary,  Mother  of  God,  ever  a  Yir- 
gin,  Temple  of  the  Lord,  dwelling-place  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  thou  only,  without  example,  hast  been  found 
pleasing  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  pray  for  the  peo- 
ple ;  intervene  for  the  clergy ;  intercede  for^  Holy 
women." '     And  Mary  heard  him. 

Although  the  tribes  upon  whose  heads  his  blood  had 
fallen  were  fiercer  and  haughtier  than  ever,  yet  the 
day  was  to  come  when  the  knees  of  the  Iroquois  should 
bend  in  prayer  to  a  saint  of  their  own  race  and  nation. 
At  present,  supphed  by  the  Dutch  and  English  with 
arms,  they  spread  the  flames  of  war  over  the  land. 
They  destroyed,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Hurons.  They 
drove  the  northern  Algon  quins  from  the  shores  of  the 
lakes,  and  slew  the  French  and  their  allies  under  the 
very  walls  of  Quebec.  Then,  weary  of  the  war-path, 
they  themselves  asked  for  peace.  And  the  heralds  of 
this  peace  were  those  whose  "  footsteps  are  beautiful 
upon    the   mountains ;    who   pubhsh   glad  tidings   of 


'  Antiplion  in  Little  Office  of  B.  V.  M. 


IN  North  Ameeica.  193 

good.'"  Father  Chaumonot  assembled  the  Oiionda- 
gas  in  the  chief  town  of  their  people,  on  the  Oswego  ; 
received  from  the  nation  a  site  for  a  mission-house, 
and  commenced  his  labors  by  the  baptism  of  a  poor 
captive  woman  of  the  Eries,  and  an  explanation  of  the 
leading  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  The  red-men  received 
his  message  with  songs  of  joy,  and  the  council  gave 
permission  to  preach  Christianity  in  all  their  villages. 
Soon  after,  one  thousand  Onondaga  braves  were  to 
meet  four  thousand  Eries  in  fight;  and  they  vowed, 
like  Clovis,  the  Frank,  of  old,  that  if  the  God  of  the 
Christians  would  give  them  the  victory,  they  would 
thenceforth  serve  him  alone.  They  drove  the  Eries 
like  deer  fi-om  before  them;  and  though  many  were 
false  to  their  vow,  yet  a  goodly  number  sought  in- 
struction, and  became  the  first-fruits  of  the  warrior 
Iroquois.  In  November,  1653,  the  back  walls  of  St. 
Mary's  church  arose,  and  the  dread  sacrifice  of  the 
Mass  consecrated  the  land  to  its  Maker.  By  the  Oc- 
tave of  the  Virgin's  Nativity,  1656,  the  back  walls  were 
exchanged  for  stone,  and  daily  devotions  to  Mary  Im- 
maculate were  paid  in  that  first  church  of  New  York, 
Our  Lady's  of  Ganentaa. 

The  same  year  saw  Father  Kene  Menard  standing  at 
the  altar  of  a  httle  chapel  among  the  Cayugas,  between 
pictures  of  our  Lord  and  His  Blessed  Mother,  and  ex- 
plaining theii'  significance  by  the  legend  of  man's  re- 


1  Quam  pulchri  super  montes  pedes  annuntiantis  et  praedicantifl 
pacem  annuntiantis  bonum,  praedicantis  salutem. — Isaias,  lii.  7. 

N  9 


194  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

demption.  The  great  allies  of  the  missionaries  were 
the  captive  Huron  women,  many  married  now  to  Iro- 
quois warriors.  They  brought  their  babes  for  bap- 
tism ;  they  instructed  their  pagan  neighbors,  whom 
they  edified  by  their  virtues ;  "  and  in  ahnost  every 
cabin  could  be  found  an  Indian  mother  teaching 
her  wayward  child  to  lisp  a  prayer  to  Jesus  and 
Mary."^ 

But  the  demon  grew  strong  again.  The  war  was  re- 
newed ;  the  missionaries  were  driven  away  or  fled ; 
and,  by  the  end  of  1658,  not  a  priest  was  left  in  the 
Iroquois  territory.  But  the  converted  Indians,  nota- 
bly the  grand  statesman  and  noble  warrior  Garacontie, 
had  been  at  work  ;  and  the  missionaries  were  implored 
to  return  to  Onondaga.  So,  with  much  labor  and  in- 
terruption, the  holy  toil  went  forward  until,  in  16G8, 
they  had  once  more  renewed  their  foothold  throughout 
the  cantons ;  and,  in  1670,  the  first  day  of  the  Octave 
of  the  Annunciation  of  Our  Lady,  the  worship  of  the 
demon  Areskoui  and  other  pagan  superstitions  were 
renounced  and  solemnly  condemned.  But  the  English 
were  by  this  time  in  New  York,  with  the  energetic 
Dongan  as  their  governor,  and  the  missionaries  to  the 
Iroquois  were  Frenchmen.  Intrigues  were  commenced 
with  the  Indians  ;  the  servants  of  Mary  were  driven 
from  the  country;  and,  by  1687,  not  one  remained. 
Then  the  Catholics  of  the  Five  Nations  went  over  and 
joined  the  French ;    and  though  the  missions  were 

'  Shea's  Missions,  p.  333. 


IN  North  America.  195 

re-established  fourteen  years  afterwards,  it  was  only 
to  linger  out  a  painful  existence ;  and  Father  Mareuil, 
the  last  Jesuit  in  New  York,  left  the  desolated  harvest- 
field  of  the  Iroquois  just  sixtj-seven  years  after  Jogues 
had  first  enriched  it  with  his  tears  and  blood. 

But  although  the  field  was  laid  waste,  the  fruit  had 
been  gathered.  In  thirty-five  years  from  the  capture 
of  Father  Jogues,  two  thousand  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  Iroquois  were  baptized — many  children, 
but  many  noble  women  and  the  choice  of  the  sachems 
and  orators.  Garacontie,  "  the  advancing  Sun,"  the 
grandest  statesman  of  the  Five  Nations,  the  bulwark 
of  Christianity  for  a  quarter  of  a  century ;  he  who  cried 
out,  before  he  died,  as  he  covered  with  kisses  a  picture 
of  our  Lord,  "  Jesus  born  of  a  Yirgin,  thou  art  peerless 
in  beauty;  grant  that  we  may  sit  near  thee  in  heaven." 
Kryn,  the  high  chief  of  the  Mohawks,  who,  when  his 
tribe  would  not  listen  to  his  pleadings,  raised  his  wild 
war-cry  for  the  last  time  in  the  streets  of  his  village  ; 
gathered  forty  devoted  followers,  and,  kneeling  down 
amid  the  graves  of  their  fathers,  poured  forth  a  prayer 
for  his  nation;  then  rose,  and,  with  streaming  eyes,  led 
his  braves  away  forever  from  the  fires  of  their  people 
to  the  Christian  settlement  at  La  Prairie.  Catherine 
Ganneakteua,  the  Erie  by  birth,  the  Oneida  by  adop- 
tion, the  foundress  of  La  Prairie  on  the  banks  of  the 
St.  Lawrence.  Mary  Tsawente,  "the  Precious,"  the 
saint  of  the  Onondagas.  Stephen  te  Gannonakoa,  who 
sufi'ered  purely  for  the  faith,  and  was  cut  to  pieces 
almost  with  knives  before  they  threw  him  into  the  fire. 


196  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

Oureliouliare,  the  war-cliief  of  the  Cayugas,  who,  when 
listening  on  his  death-bed  to  the  story  of  the  Passion, 
cried  out,  hke  Clovis,  "Oh,  had  I  been  there,  they 
never  would  so  have  treated  my  God !"  Frances  Gon- 
nonhatena,  who,  when  a  barbarous  kinsman  tore  the 
crucifix  from  her  neck,  as  she  stood  bound  to  the  stake, 
and  gashed  a  cross  upon  her  bared  bosom  with  his 
scalping-knife,  said  :  "  I  thank  thee,  my  brother  ;  thou 
hast  given  me  a  cross  which  none  can  take  away." 
These,  and  many  another  like  them,  form  the  crown  of 
the  Iroquois  missionary  in  heaven. 

But,  brightest  and  sweetest  flower  in  the  Indian 
coronal  of  Mary,  was  Catherine  Tegahkouita,  the 
"  Saint  of  the  Iroquois." 

Her  father  a  Mohawk  chief,  her  mother  an  Algon- 
quin captive,  this  holy  girl  was  born  m  1656,  in  the 
town  whence  Eene  Goupil  and  Father  Isaac  Jogues 
had  ascended,  by  martyrdom,  to  their  rest.  The  small- 
pox, which  made  her  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  four 
years,  had  also  injured  her  sight ;  and,  shunning  the 
light  of  the  sun,  she  passed  her  infancj-  and  girlhood 
with  an  uncle,  in  a  cabin,  at  the  door  of  which  the 
tomahawked  priest  had  fallen.  The  child  had  not  re- 
ceived the  grace  of  Holy  Baptism,  and  had  only  what 
Christianity  she  could  remember  from  her  mother's 
instriictions,  with,  perhaps,  occasional  teaching  fi-om 
some  poor  Huron  captive.  Thus,  her  affliction^ of  the 
eyes  was,  in  God's  will,  a  means  and  excuse  for  that 
letirement  which  would  otherwise  not  have  been 
allowed.    Thus  she  grew  up,  fi'ee  from  the  vanities  and 


IN  NoBTH  America.  197 

vices  almost  inevitable  to  an  Indian  girl  in  those  Mo- 
hawk villages. 

The  temporary  peace  already  spoken  of  had  been 
made  with  the  French.  The  missionaries,  whom  the 
savages  had  demanded,  arrived  from  Quebec,  but  found 
chief  and  people  engaged  in  a  drunken  debauch  to  cele- 
brate the  peace.  Behold  "  how  all  things  work  together 
for  good  to  them  that  love  God." '  The  drunkenness 
of  the  tribe  was  the  opportunity  of  Tegahkouita.  The 
retiring  gu'l,  unfit  for  the  revel,  was  ordered  to  enter- 
tain the  missionaries,  and  won  their  hearts  by  her 
gesslleness.  But  her  timidity  kept  her  silent  before 
them,  and  they  went  away  from  the  village  to  their 
several  stations,  without  learning  her  desire  for  bap- 
tism. The  gill  gi'ew  up  beautiful.  It  was  for  the  in- 
terest of  her  relations  to  marry  her,  for  the  product  of 
the  chase  went  to  the  wife  and  her  family.  But  she 
earnestly  and  steadily  refused.  Entreaties,  stratagem, 
argument  were  tried  in  vain.  Then  they  began  to  treat 
her  as  a  slave ;  whatever  work  was  hardest  or  most 
unpleasant  was  laid  upon  her,  mingled  with  reproaches 
and  even  blows;  but  so  invincible  was  her  patience, 
and  so  docile  her  gentleness,  that  they  softened  even 
the  hearts  of  her  persecutors. 

Then  Father  James  de  Lamberville  came  to  the  vil- 
lage, and  brought  the  fulfilment  of  her  long-deferred 
hopes.  She  had  wounded  her  foot,  and  could  not  fol- 
low the  other  women  to  labor  in  the  corn-harvest.    The 

'  St.  Paul  to  the  Romans,  viii.  28. 


198  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

missionary  cliose  the  opportimitj,  offered  by  the  ab- 
sence of  the  majority,  to  visit  those  who  remained  in 
the  village ;  and  to  him  the  girl  opened  her  heart, 
and  set  forth  with  touching  simphcity  her  love  for  the 
"  Prayer,"  and  her  long  and  ardent  yearning  for  bap- 
tism. This  sacrament,  however,  he  dared  not  lightly 
confer.  He  gave  the  whole  winter  to  her  instruction 
and  to  close  inquiry  about  her  character.  She  came 
forth  from  the  trial  white  and  pure  as  the  blossom  of 
the  thorn.  Of  all  that  knew  her,  no  one  could  say 
aught  but  in  her  praise.  Even  when  they  blamed  her 
for  what  they  considered  defects,  the  Christian  priest 
knew  these  to  be  virtues.  So  at  length,  upon  the 
Feast  of  Easter,  1676,  she  received  the  seal  of  regen- 
eration and  the  name  of  Catherine.  Ah !  then  how 
her  saintly  soul  imfolded,  petal  after  petal,  vu-tue  after 
virtue,  till  she  stood  before  the  dear  heavenly  Mother 
Mary,  whom  she  tenderly  loved,  a  white  rose  of  purity 
and  all  goodness. 

But  her  trials  came  with  her  graces.  The  time  she 
took  for  her  beads,  which  she  said  twice  a  day,  for  her 
attendance  at  the  chapel,  for  her  various  devotions, 
was  made  a  reason  of  blame  and  rebuke.  The  girls  of 
her  own  age,  angered  by  self-reproach,  mocked  and 
insulted  her ;  the  children  were  taught  to  pelt  her  's\-ith 
earth  and  stones,  and  to  shout  "  Christian !"  derisively 
as  they  passed.  One  day  a  fierce  young  warrior  dashed 
into  the  cabin  and  swung  his  axe  above  her  head ;  but, 
without  looking  up,  she  crossed  her  hands  upon  her 
breast  and  awaited  the  blow.     The  brave  was  abashed, 


IN  North  Amekica.  199 

and  retired.  Then  her  relatives  returned  to  their  at- 
tempts at  her  marriage,  and  omitted  no  effort  to  shake 
her  resolution,  but  in  vain.  Even  the  calumny  which 
is  hardest  for  a  woman  to  bear,  failed  to  destroy  the 
sweet  patience  with  which  she  bore  their  persecutions. 
But  she  had  heard  of  La  Prairie.  Yearly  a  few  con- 
verted Iroquois  would  bid  adieu  to  the  graves  of  their 
fathers  and  go  thither  for  peace  in  rehgion.  And  as 
the  love  of  Christ  grew  daily  greater  in  her  heart,  she 
sighed  for  the  free  exercise  of  her  worship,  the  enjoy- 
ment of  he^  faith. 

At  last  a  haK-sister  of  hers,  a  Christian,  at  La 
Prairie,  opened  communication  with  her  and  urged  her 
flight.  Father  de  Lamberville  approved  of  it,  and  at 
length  it  was  concerted.  The  husband  of  her  sister 
and  a  Christian  Indian  from  Loretto,  in  the  absence 
of  her  uncle,  managed  the  escape ;  but  the  old  chief 
heard  it,  and,  charging  his  gun  with  three  balls,  he 
piu'sued  them.  They  hid  her  in  a  thicket,  and  sat 
down  by  the  road-side  as  weary  men  taking  repose. 
When  he  saw  them  alone,  he  was  ashamed  of  having 
suspected  them,  and,  without  teUing  his  uneasiness, 
went  back  to  his  town.  Then  the  flight  was  renewed, 
and  Catherine,  with  her  friends,  arrived  in  safety  at 
La  Prairie.  There,  then,  she  saw  with  rapture  a  settle- 
ment entirely  Christian ;  and  what  Christians !  They 
were  like  those  of  the  first  century,  Uving  in  the  fervor 
of  fresh  faith  in  the  presence  of  ever-impending  death. 
For  the  leaves  of  each  forest  they  entered  were  hkely 
to  conceal  the  war-paint  of  the  Mohawk ;  from  behind 


200  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

each  rock  on  the  road-side  might  twang  the  Cayuga 
bow-string. 

The  young  girl  vowed  herself  entirely  unto  God,  and 
from  that  moment  seemed  to  have  no  tie  on  earth  ex- 
dept  that  of  labor  for  others.  At  the  four  o'clock  Mass 
she  entered  the  chapel,  nor  left  it  again  till  after  the 
community  Mass,  two  hours  and  a  half  later.  Often 
in  the  day  she  interrupted  her  work  to  visit  the  Most 
Holy  Sacrament ;  and  in  the  sacred  shadow  of  the 
image  of  Our  Lady,  she  passed  whole  hours  absorbed 
in  prayer.  Every  week  she  summed  up  her  daily  seK- 
examinations,  and  approached  the  tribunal  of  penance. 
The  least  defect  in  her  conduct  caused  her  floods  of 
tears.  "  Oh,  how  can  I  be  wicked,"  she  would  say, 
"  and  offend  my  God  who  has  so  loved  me !"  So 
serenely  beautiful,  so  recollected  and  devout  was  she 
at  each  communion,  that  the  others  used  to  say  they 
could  make  their  preparation  better  if  they  knelt  where 
they  could  see  Catherine.  Her  spirit  of  mortification 
was  intense ;  she  used  scourges  and  iron  chains,  and 
mingled  ashes  with  her  simple  and  scanty  food  ;  she 
would  remain  on  her  knees,  in  midwinter,  in  chapel, 
until  directed  to  retire  by  the  pitying  priest ;  she  slept 
upon  a  hard  bed  strewed  with  thorns,  until  her  morti- 
fications, becoming  known  to  her  director,  were  mod- 
erated by  his  command. 

She  visited  the  Ursulines  at  Montreal,  and  falling  in 
love  with  their  consecrated  life,  asked  and  obtained 
permission  from  her  confessor  to  render  her  ever- 
cherished  purpose  of  Uving  a  virgin  for  Christ's  sake 


IN  North  America.  201 

irrevocable  by  a  vow.  This  was  done  on  the  Feast  of 
the  Annunciation  of  Our  Blessed  Mother.  "  A  mo- 
ment after  Our  Lord  had  been  given  her  in  the  holy 
communion,  she  pronounced,  with  wondrous  fervor, 
the  vow  of  perpetual  virginity.  Then  she  besought  the 
holy  Vu'gin,  to  whom  she  always  had  the  tenderest 
devotion,  to  present  to  her  divine  Son  the  self-oblation 
which  she  made  ;  and  then  passed  several  hours  at  the 
foot  of  the  altar  in  perfect  union  with  God." ' 

From  this  time  she  belonged  to  earth  no  more,  but 
longed  perpetually  for  the  presence  of  her  Eternal 
Spouse  in  heaven,  and  to  be  with  her  Mother,  Mary, 
Queen  of  Angels.  "  She  never  spoke  of  Our  Lady 
but  with  transport,"  says  her  biographer.  "  She  had 
learned  the  Litany  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  by  heart,  and 
said  it  every  night  alone,  after  the  common  prayer  of 
the  family  was  ended.  She  was  never  without  her 
rosary,  which  she  said  many  times  a  day.  On  Satur- 
days, and  other  periods  consecrated  to  the  Virgin,  she 
redoubled  her  austerities,  and  passed  the  day  in  the 
practice  of  some  one  virtue  of  Our  Lady,  augmenting 
her  fervor  on  all  St.  Mary's  feasts."*  But  the  sHght 
frame  was  wearing  fast  away ;  the  eager  soul  must 
soon  be  unchained,  and,  like  the  dove  of  the  royal 
poet,  "fly  away  and  be  at  rest."' 

As  the  spring  drew  on,  she  prepared  to  pass  away 
when  the  glory  of  the  forest  foliage  and  flowers  was 

»  Father  Cholenec's    Letter. — Choix    des  Lettres  Edifiantes,  torn. 
vii.  447. 
a  Ibid.,  p.  453.  '  Psalm,  liv.  7. 

9* 


202  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

Jnst  dawning  on  the  land.     The  men  were  all  away  at 
the  chase ;  the  women  absent  the  entire  day,  planting 
the  golden  corn ;  and  Catherine  lay  there,  in  the  deso- 
late cabin,  alone,  with  a  plate  of  crushed  maize  and  a 
cnp  of  water  by  her  pUlow,  from  morn  tUl  the  stars 
had  risen.     Pain,  of  the  acutest  and  most  ceaseless 
nature,  racked  her  worn,  delicate  frame ;  but  it  never 
forced  a  murmur  fi'om  her — never  drove  the   sweet, 
tranquil  smile  fi'om  her  lips  and  large,  dark  Indian 
eyes.     The  week  of    the  Lord's  drear  Passion  had 
come ;  she  was  to  keep  Palm  Sunday  and  Holy  Mon- 
day on  earth,  but  her  glad,  eternal  Easter  with  St. 
Mary  in  heaven.     The  holy  Yiaticum  was  administered 
on  Tuesday.     Father  Cholenec  would  have  anointed 
her  then,  but  she  told  him  she  was  not  yet  dying ;  and 
she  passed  that  night  in  fervent  communion  with  our 
Lord  and  his  dear  Mother.      "But  on  "Wednesday," 
says  the  good  father,  "  she  received  the  last  unction 
with  lier  usual  piety  ;  and  at  three  o'clock  in  the  day, 
having  uttered  the  holy  names  of  Jesus  and  of  Mary, 
she  passed  into  her  agony."     Li  haK  an  hour,  without 
struggle  or  consciousness,  she  was  asleep  in  Jesus. 

They  did  not  pray  for  her  when  she  had  gone,  but 
to  her ;  and  many  a  cure  and  many  a  grace  were  ob- 
tained by  her  intercession.  The  holy  bishop,  Mont- 
morency de  Laval,  as  he  knelt  by  her  grave,  called  her 
the  Genevieve  of  New  France;  they  planted  a  tall 
cross  above  her  ashes,  where  it  still  stands,  and  there 
did  American  CathoHcs,  natives  by  a  hundred  descents, 
kneel  and  pray  to  a  native  American  saint,  nearly  two 


IN  NoETH  Ameeica.  203 

himdred  years  before  Satan  invented  Native  American 
politics,  for  the  persecution  of  those  who  say  the 
prayers  and  worship  the  God  of  Catherine  Tegah- 
kouita. 

Thus  did  the  devotion  to  Mary  take  root  in  North 
America;  filling  human  hearts  with  sanctity,  repeo- 
pHng  heaven,  and  making  new  intercessors  for  a  sinful 
world.  The  State  of  New  York  had  been  taken  pos- 
session of  in  the  names  of  Jesus  and  Mary ;  its  lands 
had  been  consecrated  to  the  Immaculate  Conception ; 
its  children  taught  to  say  the  Ave  Maria  or  chant  the 
JRegina  Coeli.  In  thu'ty-seven  years  the  fierce  Indians 
of  the  Five  Nations  had  learned  to  come  in  crowds  to 
the  New  Loretto,  and  pray  at  the  feet  of  Our  Lady  of 
Foie.  St.  Mary's  Church  was  built  in  Onondaga. 
Another  still,  St.  Mary's  of  the  Mohawks,  soon  occu- 
pied the  very  spot  where  Father  Jogues  was  slain. 
The  picture  of  her  pure,  sweet  face  adorned  the  chapel 
altar  at  Cayuga ;  the  Mission  House  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  Senecas ;  a 
statue  of  the  Virgin  Mother  was  erected  in  Oneida, 
and  the  Sodahty  of  the  Holy  Family  won  scores  of 
that  people  to  its  banner.  The  noble  Mohawk  women 
wore  their  beads  with  firm  devotion,  though  the 
burghers  of  Albany  threatened  them  for  displaying 
their  "popish  trumpery"  in  the  streets.  One,  stung 
past  all  patience  by  the  taunts  of  the  boors,  went  into 
their  temple  and  said  her  rosary  aloud.'     The  brave 


Shea's  Indian  Missions,  p.  268. 


204  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

and  wise  Garacontie  was  driven  from  that  temple  for 
kneeling  upon  its  floor  to  recite  his  chaplet.  "  What !" 
he  said,  "  are  you  Christians,  and  will  not  let  men 
pray?"  It  was  the  aged  Mohawk,  Assendase,  whose 
beads  were  torn  from  his  neck,  while  the  raised  toma- 
hawk threatened  his  head,  white  with  eighty  years. 
"Strike!"  said  the  old  chieftain,  "for  this  cause  I 
shall  be  glad  to  die."  One  woman  drove  her  husband 
from  the  lodge  because  he  had  destroyed  her  chaplet ; 
but,  learning  that  she  had  done  wrong,  recalled  him, 
and  so  won  him  by  her  gentleness  that  he  forsook  his 
paganism.  And  another,  mocked  by  the  Dutch  for 
her  beads  and  her  medal  of  St.  Mary,  said  to  them 
with  quiet  scorn,  "  You  pretend  to  worship  Jesus,  yet 
wish  me  not  to  honor  his  Mother !" 

Such,  nearly  two  hundred  years  ago,  was  the  devo- 
tion to  the  Virgin  Mother  of  God  in  New  York. 


IN  NoETH  America.  205 


CHAPTER  X. 

OuB  Lady  of  Loretto  of  the  Htjeons. 

One  fair  SejDtember  day,  rather  more  tlian  two  cen- 
turies ago,  a  young  man,  a  novice,  sat  in  the  garden  of 
the  Jesuits  in  Rome,  reading  the  narrative  of  Father 
John  de  Brebceuf.  Two  points,  he  tells  us,'  especially 
riveted  his  attention.  First,  that  in  the  land  described 
there  was  no  wheaten  bread,  no  wine,  nor  any  of  the 
luxuries  that  sweeten  European  life,  but  there  was 
abundance  of  suffering.  And  second,  that  to  instruct 
and  convert  the  barbarous  tribes  of  America,  there  was 
more  need  of  humility,  and  patience,  and  charity,  and 
zeal  for  souls,  than  of  great  wit  or  very  great  learning. 
Then  it  struck  the  young  man  that  such  a  home  and 
such  a  life  were  precisely  what  was  best  for  him  ;  for  he 
had  a  very  decided  calling  to  the  life  of  a  missionary. 
His  name  was  Joseph  Mary  Chaumonot. 

For  the  sinless  Mother  and  pure  foster-father  of  the 
Redeemer  he  had  always  had  a  vivid  devotion,  even  in 
the  early  part  of  his  life,  which  had  furnished  him  v/ith 
abundant  material  for  penance.     So  he  turned  to  them 

•  "  La  Vie  du  R.  P.  Pierre  Joseph  Marie  Chaumonot,  de  la  Com- 
pagnie  de  Jesus,  ecrite  par  luimeme  par  ordre  de  son  Superieur  I'an 
1668."  Another  of  Shea's  unappreciated  gifts  to  American  Catholic 
history. 


206  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mart 

to  get  him  all  the  permissions  that  were  needed  to  quit 
his  studies,  to  be  ordained,  to  leave  Kome  in  time  for 
the  next  missionary  ship,  and  above  all,  to  make,  on 
foot  and  begging  his  bread,  a  pilgrimage  to  the  holy 
shrine  of  Loretto,  there  to  offer  liimseK  to  her  who  in 
that  house  had  given  birth  to  God  the  Son.  For  he 
had  made  a  vow  to  seek  in  all  things  the  greater  glory 
of  God,  under  the  especial  protection  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary.  So,  in  October,  he  started  upon  his 
pilgrimage.  The  very  first  day  something  hke  the 
white  swelhng  appeared  in  his  knee ;  but  in  spite  of  the 
extreme  pain,  growing  daily  worse  by  exercise,  he  for 
eight  days  marched  on  with  heroic  fortitude ;  then  by 
the  intercession  of  a  holy  person  at  St.  Severino,  during 
the  Mass  of  his  companion,  Father  Poucet,  he  was 
healed.  They  arrived  in  Loretto,  and  the  vow  was 
solemnly  pronounced  before  the  shrine,  with  this  ad- 
ditional one  :  that,  if  it  were  possible,  he  would  some 
day  build  in  Canada  a  house  upon  the  model  of  the 
sacred  one  wherein  he  was  then  praying. 

We  know  that  he  fulfilled  the  second  j)art  of  his  vow 
at  the  Mission  of  the  Indians  of  Loretto.  During  four- 
teen years  he  was  chaplain  there ;  during  foi-ty-nine 
years  he  was  Huron  missionary.  And  in  the  duties  of 
this  post  he  sought  to  accompHsh  the  first  obhgation. 
He  and  the  Ursulines  and  the  Hospital  Sisters  reached 
Quebec  together  in  1639.  Two  days  after  his  arrival  he 
set  out  in  a  canoe  for  Lake  Huron.  His  early  instruc- 
tors were  Lallemont,  Daniel,  and  Breboeuf,  the  latter  of 
whom  had  first  made  known  to  him  his  vocation,  and 


IN  NoETH  America.  207 

■whose  Indian  name,  Heclion,  he  inherited  when  Bre- 
bceuf  went  to  heaven  by  the  bitter  path  of  Iroquois 
torture.  From  that  moment  he  was  a  Huron.  He 
never  left  them,  except  for  a  journey  to  Montreal  or 
Quebec  on  their  business,  except  once  to  aid  the  Onon- 
daga mission,  until  his  superiors  called  him  away  in 
his  last  illness.  He  remained  wdth  them  throughout 
their  desperate  and  fatal  struggle  with  the  Five  Nations, 
and  did  not  forsake  them  in  their  ruin,  but  led  the 
chief  remnant  of  the  tribe  first  to  the  Isle  of  Orleans, 
under  the  protection  of  Quebec,  and,  afterwards,  to  the 
new  Loretto. 

It  was  he,  we  know,  who  expressed  the  unuttered 
wish  of  Oher's  heart,  and  with  Marguerite  Bourgeoys, 
Judith  de  Bressole,  Superior  of  the  hospital,  the  Sulpi- 
cian  Father  Souart,  and  Madame  Barbe  de  Boulogne 
d'Aillebout,  founded  the  Devotion  of  the  Holy  Family. 
"While  his  Hurons  were  still  in  the  city,  he  was  ap- 
pointed chaplain  of  De  Tracey's  newly  arrived  troops. 
He  and  his  new  charge  felt  some  mutual  distrust  at 
first,  but  when  the  soldiers  saw  that  he  was  never  idle, 
that  he  was  in  almost  constant  prayer,  that  he  spoke 
with  them  only  of  what  concerned  their  souls,  that  he 
waited  on  their  sick,  saved  them  by  his  intercession 
from  ill-treatment,  and  thought  nothing   of  himself, 
they  grew  to  love  him.     Soon  he  had  them  all  at  a 
short  night  prayer,  then  saying  a  chaplet  every  night 
in  honor   of  Jesus,  Mary,  and  Joseph,  and  by  and  by 
enrolled   among   the  devotees  of  the    Holy  Family. 
Nay,  one  of  them,  a  captain,  became   a  priest   and 


208  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

pastor  of  Port  Eoyal,  in  Acadia  ;  another  became  a  lay 
brother  in  the  Company  of  Jesus. 

The  next  of  his  works  was  the  founding  of  Our  Lady 
of  Foie,  a  shrine  immediately  sought  by  the  devotion 
not  only  of  the  red-men  of  the  parish,  but  of  the  French 
from  the  neighboring  city.     The  writers  of  the  day 
record  several  miracles  of  mercy  wrought  through  the 
intercession  of  St.  Mary,  and  the  little  chapel  was  en- 
riched with  gifts  from  Canada,  and  even  from  Europe. 
The  Indians,  in  gratitude  for  the  statue  bestowed,  had 
sent  to  Our  Lady  of  Dinan  a  wampum  belt,  the  first 
which  reached  Europe  in  "this  way.     This  one  bore,  in 
black  letters  on  a  white  field,  the  legend,  Beata  quce 
credidisti — "Blessed  art  thou  who  hast  beheved" — the 
words  of  St.  EHzabeth  to  Our  Lady  when  first  she  was 
saluted  as  Mother  of  the  Lord.'     A  second,  dispatched 
to  Loretto,  bore  the  inscription,  Ave  Maria  Gratia.     It 
was  received  with  aU  honor,  and,  richly  encased,  was 
hung  up  in  the  Santa  Casa  at  Loretto.     "  The  canons 
received  it  with  aU  honor,"  writes   the  pious  Chau- 
monot,  "  and  I  doubt  not  that  the  Blessed  Yirgin  gave 
it  a  still  kinder  reception,  since,  a  few  years  ago,  she 
procured  me  both  the  opportunity  and  the  means  of 
building  a  new  Loretto  in  the  forests  of  New  France." 
Ah !  Mother  of  Grace,"  he  continues,  "  why  can  I  not 
daily  render  thee  a  million  acts  of  thanksgiving  ?  above 
aU,  when  I  have  the  happiness  to  celebrate  the  holy 
Mass.     "Were  it  permitted  me  here  to  set  forth  all  the 


St.  Luke,  i.  45.  *  Vie  de  Pere  Cliaumonot,  p.  91. 


IN  NoETH  America.  209 

•wretchedness,  even  sj)mtual,  from  wLicli  thy  pity  has 
rescued  me,  others  would  be  excited  to  thank  thee  for 
me,  and  to  have  recourse  to  thee  with  confidence." 

When  his  purpose  was  known,  the  means  soon  fol- 
lowed— land  and  labor,  money  from  Canada,  and  silver 
lamps  and  rich  vestments  fr'om  France.  It  was  com- 
menced in  January,  1674,  and  finished  and  blessed  the 
same  year  in  November.  The  ceremony  drew  vast 
crowds  of  French  and  Indians  together.  The  Hurons 
and  the  Christian  Iroquois,  of  whom,  by  this  time, 
there  were  many  in  the  Eeduction,  bore  the  image  of 
Our  Lady,  a  copy  of  that  in  the  Italian  Loretto,  in 
solemn  procession ;  the  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  chanted 
the  solemn  High  Mass  and  preached ;  and  aU  hearts 
saluted  with  fervent  devotion  St.  Mary  of  the  Hurons. 
The  shrine  may  still  be  seen,  with  some  modern  addi- 
tions, but  substantially  the  same.  It  stands  upon  an 
elevated  point  between  two  gorges.  One  of  these  is 
thickly  covered  with  vegetation ;  but  down  the  other, 
over  rock  and  gnarled  roots,  rushes  the  foaming 
river.  On  aU  the  heights,  and  on  the  sides  of  the  first 
deep  glen,  stand  the  houses  of  the  Tiahitans ;  beyond 
these  rises  the  remnant  of  the  aboriginal  forests,  and 
the  blue,  wavy  outline  of  the  distant  mountains  forms 
the  background  of  the  picture.  It  is  now  called  the 
"Ancienne  Lorette  ;  Church  of  the  Annunciation  of  Our 
Lady."' 

Many   a   favor,   obtained    by  Mary's    intercession, 


'See  engraving  in  Orsini's  Life  B.  Y.  M. 


210  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  JMaey 

made  gi'ateful  hearts  in  this  EecTuction ;  many  a  mir- 
acle aided  the  celebrity  of  the  shrine,  which  was  now 
the  only  shelter  of  a  once  flourishing  tribe.  Let  us 
give  one  story  here  of  Mary's  pity,  on  the  avithority  of 
Father  Chaumonot.  He  says  it  would  require  a  large 
volume  to  record  them  all ;  of  this  one  he  was  an  eye- 
witness ;  his  legend  runs  thus  : 

Mary  Ouendraca  was  a  Huron  woman  and  a  fervent 
Christian.  Her  husband,  Itaenhohi,  and  two  of  her 
children — one  five  and  one  fifteen  j^ears  old — had  died 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  and  slept  in  the  grave- 
yard of  Our  Lady  of  Foie.  Some  years  after  the  re- 
moval to  Loretto,  this  good  Mary  was  smitten  by  one 
of  the  terrible  typhoid  fevers  which  used  to  desolate 
the  Indian  villages  in  those  days ;  something  analo- 
gous to  the  camp-fevers  which  we  hear  of  now.  So 
completely  reduced  was  she  that  her  whole  body  was 
powerless,  as  if  paralyzed;  the  last  sacraments  had 
been  given  her,  and  her  decease  was  momently  ex- 
pected. Should  she  die,  she  must  leave  behind  her 
her  remaining  children,  John  and  Teresa.  So,  when 
human  help  had  ceased  to  be  of  use.  Father  Chau- 
monot called  the  children — Teresa,  a  married  woman, 
and  John,  a  boy  of  fourteen — to  him,  and  the  three 
united  in  a  vow  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  that  if  she  would 
be  pleased  to  obtain  from  the  Master  of  Life  the  re- 
covery of  the  mother,  they  would  say  in  her  church 
nine  chaplets  of  the  Holy  Family  in  thanksgiving  for 
the  favor.  When  they  made  this  promise,  the  priest 
went  away  to  the  chapel  to  pray  for. the  dying  woman. 


IN  North  America.  -  211 

In  a  few  moments  Teresa  came  to  say  tliat  her 
mother  asked  for  Hechon.  He  arose  and  hurried  to 
the  cabin,  recaUing  as  he  went  the  prayers  for  a  "de- 
parting soul.  As  he  entered  the  lodge,  its  mistress 
rose  and  received  him  with  profound  reverence,  a  la 
Frangaise,  he  tells  us.  He  thought  this  effort  the  last 
that  nature  would  make — the  flickerinar  of  the  lioht 

O  O 

before  it  should  expire  forever.  He  urged  her  to  he 
down  at  once  upon  the  poor  mat  which  served  her 
for  a  bed ;  but  she  said  she  would  be  as  well  seated. 
He  again  urged  her,  but  she  answered  gravely,  she 
was  perfectly  well.  Still  the  good  Father  fancied  this 
a  dream  of  mere  delirium,  which,  when  she  had  ob- 
served, she  sent  her  children  from  the  lodge  and  told 
the  priest  as  follows :  That,  soon  after  he  had  gone 
out,  two  persons  entered  the  lodge  and  took  their 
places  by  her  mat,  one  at  the  side,  the  other,  a  httle 
boy,  at  the  foot.  The  one  at  the  side  seemed  a  young 
woman  or  full-grown  girl,  and  said,  "  My  mother,  if 
you  will  touch  the  edge  of  my  robe,  you  will  be  healed." 
But  Mary  Ouendraca  could  not  believe  that  any  one 
from  heaven  would  condescend  to  visit  one  so  loAvly  as 
herseK ;  and  as  mortals  would  not  have  appeared  Hke 
these,  she  fancied  them  demons  come  to  trouble  her 
last  hour,  and  she  prayed  to  be  rescued  fi-om  them. 

But  the  young  gii-l,  with  a  sweet,  heavenly  smile, 
brushed  the  edge  of  her  robe  across  the  sick  woman's 
face,  and  said,  "  There,  mother,  you  are  cured."  And 
then  they  disappeared.  Then  Mary  tried  to  move, 
and  confidence  began  to  steal  into  her  heart  as  she 


212  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

found  herself  mistress  of  her  strength.  She  rose  and 
walked  to  the  door,  tried  all  her  limbs,  and  sent  her 
trembling  daughter  for  Chaumonot;  for  the  boy  had 
fled  from  her  as  from  a  spectre.  Then  the  good  priest 
understood  that,  the  gracious  Queen  of  Heaven  had 
heard  their  prayers,  and  had  sent  to  her  lowly  Huron 
namesake  her  own  childi-en,  with  the  boon  of  health. 
There  were  no  degrees  in  the  recovery,  Mary  Ouen- 
draca  walked  at  once  to  the  church,  there  to  offer  her 
thanksgiving,  perfectly  restored. 

So  many  and  so  marked  indeed  were  the  favors  ob- 
tained through  the  intercession  of  the  Mother  of  God, 
that  the  poor  Indians  were  'always  regretting  their 
lowliness  and  poverty,  because  they  had  no  means  of 
honoring  her  as  they  desired.  Nevertheless,  they  de- 
termined to  do  what  they  could.  They  had  sent  a 
wampum-belt  to  Foie  and  to  Loretto ;  they  must  send 
another,  ad  Virginem  parituram,  to  Our  Lady  of  Char- 
tres ;  for  the  Mission  of  Loretto,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
Abnalds,  had  been  united,  by  a  "  union  of  intention  in 
prayer,"  to  the  grand  cathedral  in  France.  So  they 
made  as  fine  a  belt  as  they  could  of  black  and  white 
wampum,  and  they  wrought  the  edges  in  the  finest 
quill-work,  of  the  richest  dyes,  and  the  legend  was, 
•■'  YiEGmi  Paeitueze  Yotum  Hukonum,"  and  they  sent  it 
with  this  letter :' 

"  It  fiUs  our  hearts  with  joy,  O  Holy  Virgin,  that 


'  Those  wlio  are  curious  in  these  matters  may  see  ihe  original 
Huron  letters  in  John  Gilmary  Shea's  exquisite  edition  of  Father 
Chaumonot's  Autobiography. 


IN  North  America.  213 

even  before  your  birtli,  the  city  of  Cliartres  built  to 
your  honor  a  shrine  with  this  dedication,  'To  the 
Virgin  who  shall  bear  a  child.'  Happy  are  they  who 
have  won  the  glory  of  being  your  earhest  servants. 
Alas!  incomparable  Mother  of  God,  it  is  quite  other- 
-s\dse  with  us  poor  Hurons  ;  we  have  the  sorrow  to 
have  been  the  last  to  know  you  and  to  honor  you.  But 
we  would  do  what  Hes  in  oui-  power  to  make  up  for  all 
past  neglect  of  your  service  by  fervent  devotion  now. 
This  we  desire  to  do,  joining  ourselves  to  your  chil- 
dren at  Chartres,  so  that  we  may  have  but  one  mind, 
one  mouth,  one  heart  with  them,  to  render  you  praise 
and  service  and  love.  We  beseech  them  to  offer  for  us, 
and  in  our  name,  all  the  honors  which  they  have  ever 
paid  to  you.  It  shall  be  they,  for  we  hope  they  will 
not  refuse  us,  who  shall  win  your  bounty  for  us ;  their 
fervor  compensating  for  our  sluggishness,  their  know- 
lodge  for  our  ignorance,  their  riches  for  our  penury. 

"And,  Holy  Vii'gin,  although  your  holy  child  has 
been  born  into  the  world,  we  will  still  honor  you  under 
that  title  of  Virgo  Faritura,  so  that  you  may  deign  to 
accept  us  also  as  your  children.  As  we  honor  you 
here  in  a  house  modelled  upon  that  wherein  you  gave 
a  human  life  to  God,  we  hope  that  you  will  obtain  a 
spii-itual  life  for  us  ;  so  shall  you  be,  0  ever  Virgin,  our 
reo-eneratris  until  Jesus  be  born  anew  in  our  hearts. 
This  is  what  we  ask  of  you,  sending  this  wampum  in 
testimony  that  we  are  bound  to  your  service." ' 


»  Vceus  des  Hurous  et  des  Abnaquis,  p.  1. 


214  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

The  chapter  of  Chartres  placed  the  Huron  belt 
among  the  treasures  of  theu'  glorious  cathedral,  and 
were  very  kind  to  their  poor  Indian  brethren  on  the 
banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Thej  sent  them,  among 
other  things,  a  very  handsome,  well-filled  reHquary. 
It  was  of  massive  silver,  richly  chased ;  upon  one  side 
bearing  in  high  rehef  the  kneeHng  figure  of  Our 
Blessed  Lady,  and  of  the  Angel  who  brings  the  An- 
nunciation, who  with  one  hand  extends  the  lily  of 
purity,  and  with  the  other  points  to  the  eternal  Dove, 
hovering,  white-winged,  in  the  uj)per  glory.  On  the 
other  side  you  see  the  hollow  oak  wherein,  on  a  low 
altar,  sits  the  Virgin  with  the  Holy  Child  in  her  arms. 
On  the  base  of  the  altar  is  a  legend,  Virgini  Pariturce.^ 
This  was  received  with  great  gratitude,  and  on  the 
feast  of  AU  Saints,  1680,  it  was  exhibited  for  the  ven- 
eration of  the  faithful.  Sermons  were  preached  in 
French  and  Huron ;  the  reliquary  was  incensed  and 
placed  within  the  niche  prepared  for  it ;  and  Our 
Lady  was  thanked  for  this,  as  for  other  favors,  by  the 
mingled  voices  of  French  and  Indians  chanting  the 
Ave  Maris  Stella. 

The  daily  life  at  Loretto  was  more  like  that  of  a  re- 
ligious community  than  of  a  village  of  poor  Indians 
who  depended  upon  the  chase  for  their  support. 
Morning  prayer,  Mass,  and   general  examination  in 

'  Notice  sur  im  Reliquaire  donne  en  1680  aux  Hurons  de  Lorette 
eu  la  Nouvelle  France  par  le  Chapitre  de  I'eglise  de  Chartres,  par  M. 
Doublet  de  Boisthibault.  Extrait  de  la  Eevue  Arclieologique,  XV*. 
annee.    Paris,  A.  Leleux,  1858. 


IN  North  America.  215 

tlie  chapel  occupied  the  leisure  of  the  forenoon ;  cate- 
chism and  instruction  of  those  who  could  attend,  with 
visit  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  sanctified  the  after- 
noon ;  and  when  the  sun  was  setting,  the  sound  of  the 
bell  called  the  canoe  to  the  shore,  and  bade  the  loiter- 
ing hunter  hasten  from  the  forest  to  end  the  day  with 
prayer.      Then,   when   all  were   gathered,   they   sang 
vespers   on  feast-days,   and  other  prayers   on  ferise. 
They  sang  in  alternate  choirs,  in  Indian  and  in  Latin, 
their  evening  devotions.     There  was  a  short  examina- 
tion of  conscience,  the  beads  of  the  Blessed  Yirgin  or 
of  the  Holy  Family,  the  Pater,  Ave,  Credo,  Conffeor, 
the  Commandments,  and  other  prayers  for  the  Hving 
and  the  dead,  an  anthem  to  the  most  pure  Mother,  and 
the  Angelus.     Thus  closed  the  day,  and  then  the  stars 
reigned  in  heaven ;  or,  if  the  clouds  made  the  mid- 
night  more   profound,  the   Indian  children  of  Mary 
slept  in  secure  humility  beneath  the  shadow  of  her 
shrine  in  the  Loretto  of  the  forest. 

Missionary  to  the  Hurons  for  more  than  fifty  years, 
the  hour  for  Father  Chaumonot's  rest  must  be  at  hand. 
There  are  successors,  capable  men,  for  the  mission. 
Part  of  his  daily  duty  was  to  teach  the  Huron  lan- 
guage for  at  least  half  an  hour,*  but  at  length  the 
superior  thought  him  too  much  worn  for  further  labor, 
and  recalled  him  to  the  tranquillity  of  the  college,  in 
1692.     What  else  we  know  of   him  is  not  from  his 


'  His  Huron  grammar  was  the  basis  of  all  other  Northern  Indian 
grammars,  and  the  text-book  of  the  missionary. 


216  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

autobiograplij,  written  in  obedience  and  for  liumilitj, 
but  is  from  the  work  of  a  contemporary  Father  who 
knew  him  and  watched  his  declining  years,  as  he 
passed  from  holy  life  to  hoKer,  in  the  college  of  Our 
Lady  of  Angels.  He  had  passed  the  limit  usually 
allotted  to  man,  the  threescore  years  and  ten.  In 
1689,  on  the  Feast  of  St.  Joachim,  the  second  day  of 
the  Octave  of  Our  Lady's  Assumption  (Aug.  15),  he 
chanted,  in  the  cathedral  of  Quebec,  his  "Mass  of 
fifty  years."  Half  a  century  had  he  been  priest,  and 
had  broken  the  Bread  of  Life  to  "  the  souls  that  hun- 
gered in  the  -wdlderness."  Falling  sick  at  last,  the  old 
man  was  summoned  from  his  mission,  but  as  soon  as 
he  had  somewhat  recovered,  he  craved  permission  to 
return.  They  put  him  off  until  the  Feast  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception,  and  fi'om  that  until  Epiphany, 
and  then  they  needed  no  more  excuses.  His  rapidly 
breaking  system  told  him  that  Loretto  and  he  were 
parted  forever.  So  he  prepared  himself  by  ceaseless 
prayer  and  meditation,  and  offering  up  of  his  suffer- 
ings, from  acute  gravel,  to  his  crucified  Lord ;  and  on 
the  morning  of  the  nineteenth  of  January,  he  took 
leave  of  the  world  without  a  moan,  entering  the  new 
life  with  the  words,  "  Jesus,  Mary,  Josejph !"  on  his 
lips. 

We  conclude  this  chapter  with  the  promised  Note, 
on  the  especial  patroness  of  our  early  Indian  missions. 
Our  Lady  of  Chartres. 

Note. — "  L'anciennete,  la  devotion  et  la  service  de  I'eglise  catlie- 
drale  de  Nostre  Dame  de  Chartres  I'ont  rendue  sainte  et  venerable  a 


IN  North  Ajvierica  217 

tous  les  Chrestiens  .  .  .  C'est  ce  qui  a  mou  la  pit'te  des  roys  nos 
predecesseurs,  la  dotter  de  plusieurs  fonds  et  domaines,  faveurs  et 
priveleges,  et  par  leux  cliarites,  liberalites,  magnificence  royalle,  la 
restablir  et  la  rt'edifier  des  le  temps  de  S.  Fulbert  qui  en  estoit  evesque 
en  I'estat  qu'elle  se  void  a  present." 

So  speaks  the  Most  Christian  King  Louis  the  Thirteenth  when 
founding  in  this  famous  cathedral,  in  1638,  a  perpetual  requiem  Mass 
for  the  soul  of  his  father  Henri  Quatre.  "  The  antiquity,  devotion, 
and  service  of  the  cathedral  church  of  Our  Lady  of  Chartres  have 
rendered  it  holy  and  venerable  to  all  Christians.  This  it  is  which  has 
moved  the  kings  our  predecessors  to  endow  it  with  many  foundations, 
domaines,  favors,  and  privileges,  and  by  their  charities,  liberalities, 
and  royal  magnificence  to  re-establish  and  re-edify  it  from  the  days  of 
St.  Fulbert,  who  was  its  bishop,  in  the  condition  that  we  see  it  in 
to-day."  '  For  Chaiues  yields  to  no  quarter  of  the  earth  in  devotion 
to  the  Mother  of  God.  iu  the  diocese  whereof  this  venerable  shrine 
is  cathedral,  nine  stately  abbeys  and  forty-five  parish  churches  are 
dedicated  by  name  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  her  veneration  traces 
back,  by  rtfV^erent  tradition,  beyond  the  date  of  Christianity  itself. 
There  is  nothing  requiring  a  very  unusual  stretch  of  faith  or  credulity 
in  the  tradition.  The  argument  is  briefly  this  :  That  all  peoples*  had 
a  tradition  of  a  virgin  who  should  bear  a  child,  the  Saviour  of  the 
world ;  that  the  Druids  iu  Gaul  were  the  learned  of  the  day,  the 
holders  of  all  religious  tradition  as  well  as  its  ministers,  and  that 
Chartres  was  the  headquarters  of  Druidism.'  Such  is  the  argument 
for  its  probability,  and  the  legend  is  as  follows  : 

The  cathedral  of  Our  Lady  of  Chartres  stands  upon  a  hill  once 
covered  with  the  sacred  oak-grove  wherein  the  Diuids  worshipped 
their  god  Teutates.'*.  In  the  centre  of  the  wood  was  a  cavern  or  vast 
grotto,  where  the  sunlight  scarcely  penetrated,  and  where  the  sombre 
mysteries  of  the  Drsidic  idolatry  were  celebrated.     There,  says  the 

'  Letfres  patentes  de  Louis  XHL.,  apud  Boisthibault,  p.  50. 

^  For  a  remarkable  instance  among  the  American  Indians,  see  this 
work,  p.  44,  Orsini's  Life  B.  V.  M.,  chap.  1,  and  I'Abbe  Henrion's 
]!i'otre  Dame  de  France,  pp.  184-193. 

3  Hi  (Druides)  certo  anni  tempore  in  finibus  Garnutum,  quap  regie, 
totius  Qallise  media  habitur,  considunt  in  loco  consecrato. — C^SAR  de 
Bel.  Gal.,  iv.  13,  14. 

■•  Tacitus,  Germania. 

10 


218  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maet 

legend,  one  hundred  years  before  tlie  Saviour's  birtli,  did  Priscus, 
king  of  Chartres,  gather  his  warriors,  bards,  orators,  and  priests,  to 
Bee  erected,  by  command  of  the  Druidic  college,  an  altar,  bearing  the 
Image  of  a  Woman  with  a  Child  in  her  arms,  and  the  inscription, 
"  To  THE  Virgin  who  shali.  bring  forth  a  Child."  Virgint 
PARiTUR^a;.  The  altar  was  set  up,  and  Priscus  the  king  solemnly 
consecrated  himself,  his  laud,  and  his  people  forever  to  her  who  should 
bear  the  "  Desire  of  all  Nations."  When,  then,  the  first  heralds  of 
the  truth,  SS.  Potentianus,  Altinus,  and  Sabinianus  arrived  in  this 
country  and  announced  that  She,  so  honored  there,  had  come,  and  had 
born  "  Emanuel,  God  with  us,"  the  hearts  of  the  Carnutes,  long  pre- 
pared, received  the  message  gladly.  A  rude  church  was  buUt  within 
the  grotto,  the  very  image  sculptured  by  pagan  fingers  was  blessed, 
and  the  land  became  Mary's,  to  the  greater  glory  of  her  eternal  Son. 

When  Constantine  gave  peace  to  the  Church,  and  the  empire  of 
the  Ctesars  became  Christendom,  the  grove  was  cut  down,  and  a 
church,  still  modest  and  poor,  was  erected  upon  the  summit  of  the 
hiU.  Hither  the  early  Gallic  Christians  flocked,  and  here  Our  Blessed 
Lady  was  pleased  to  manifest  her  maternal  love  for  the  unfortunate 
human  brethren  of  her  Son.  The  crowds  of  Avorshippers  gradually 
augmented,  and  various  structures  succeeded  to  the  primitive  build 
ings  as  the  necessity  of  the  times  required.  At  length,  in  1020,  the 
Bishop,  Fulbert,  aided  by  the  devout  largesse  of  Robert  of  France, 
Knut  the  Great,  of  Denmark  and  England,  Richard  of  Normandy, 
William  of  Aquitaine,  Eudes  of  Chartres,  and  other  sovereign  princes, 
laid  the  magnificent  foundations  of  the  actual  cathedral,  and  finished 
vaulting  the  grotto  which  thus  became  the  crypt  of  the  church. 

In  the  crypt-church,  which  is  known  as  Our  Lady's  Under  Ground, 
is  preserved  the  antique  statue,  in  a  niche  over  the  altar.  The  image 
was  of  wood,  the  original  color  long  since  destroyed  by  the  smoke  of 
wax-lights  and  its  great  age.  The  Virgin  was  *represented  as  seated 
in  a  chair  and  holding  upon  her  knees  her  Divine  Son,  who  holds  the 
globe  of  the  earth  in  His  left  hand,  and  with  His  right  bestows  the 
benediction.  The  Blessed  Virgin  is  crowned.  And  there  rested  the 
statue  where  the  hands  of  the  Druids  had  placed  it,  until  the  progres- 
sive republicanism  of  1704  overthrew  the  shrine,  tore  the  image  from 
its  niche,  heaped  outrage  and  insult  upon  it,  and  then  burned  it  pub- 
licly at  the  door  of  the  noble  temple  which  piety  had  raised  in  its 
honor.  That  which  is  now  seen  in  the  cathedral  is  only  a  co]iy  of  the 
antique  image,  so  consistently  destroyed  by  our  modem  political  and 


IN  North  America.  219 

social  reformers.  Besides  tins,  however,  tlie  church  was  enriched 
with  other  treasures,  which  happily  escaped  the  rage  of  the  Revolu- 
tion.  There  was  a  statue  called  Our  Lady  of  the  Pillar;  long  a 
vehicle  of  Mary's  graces  to  her  childi-en.  The  stone  pedestal  on 
which  it  stands  has  been  worn  hollow  by  the  kisses  of  the  devout, 
and  the  legend  on  the  base  is,  Totapulclira  es  arnica  mea  et  macula 
non  est  in  <e— "Thou  art  all  fair,  my  beloved,  there  is  no  spot  in 
thee." 

There  is  also,  since  the  year  870,  an  Oriental  veil,  such  as  is  still 
Worn  in  the  East,  and  which  is  said  to  have  been  Our  Lady's.  It  was 
given  to  the  church  by  Charles  the  Bald  ;  it  has  received  the  venera- 
tion of  all  centiu-ies  since  then,  even  of  our  own ;  and  in  1855,  the 
eloquence  of  the  great  Bishop  of  Poitiers  chose  it  for  one  theme  of 
his  discourse,  when  the  statue  of  Notre  Dame  was  solemnly  crowned 
in  that  year.  Many  another  sacred  treasure  does  this  grand  old  tem- 
ple possess,  and  simple  and  poor,  yet  honored  among  them,  you  may 
BtiU  see  the  wampum  belts  of  the  Abenaki  of  La  Prairie  and  the 
H\iron  of  Loretto.^ 


'  Vide  "  Notre  Dame  de  France  on  I'histoire  du  culte  de  la  Sainte 
Vierge  en  France  depuis  I'origine  du  Christianisme  jusqu'  a  nos  jours. 
Province  ecclesiastique  de  Paris,  par  M.  le  Cure  de  Saint-Sulpice." — 
V<£ux  des  Hurons,  etc.,  etc. 


220  Detotion  to  the  B.  V.  IVIajry 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OuK  Lady's  Assumption  of   a.  d.  1790,  and  "what  came  of  it — A  Mis- 

SIONAEY  PeiNCE. 

Destined  to  temper,  if  possible,  the  absolute  free- 
dom of  tlie  one,  and  to  serve  as  a  refuge  from  the  hor- 
rors of  the  other,  the  Church  in  the  United  States 
appears  serenely  between  the  American  and  the  French 
revolutions.  The  first  name  in  the  hierarchy  of  this 
repubhc  is  a  name  from  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence :  the  first  clergy  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Car- 
roll are  those  whom  fetterless  tiger  passions  drive  from 
old  Cathohc  France.  Dubois,  Flaget,  David,  Badin, 
Dubourg,  Marechal  Cheverus,  Richard,  Salmon,  and 
their  companions,  lay  the  foundations  of  this  country's 
true  indebtedness  to  the  land  of  St.  Louis.  Of  these, 
Stephen  Badin*  is  to  be  the  first  priest  ordained  in 
America ;  six  others  are  to  be  bishops,  one  afterwards  a 
cardinal ;'  Abbe  Salmon  is  to  die  of  cold  and  wounds, 
in  the  snow ;  Garnier  shall  see  his  plaisant  pays  de 
France  again,  and  end  his  labors  as  superior-general  of 
St.  Sulpice ;  Cheverus,  a  Prince  of  the  Church,  and  Du- 
bourg die  members  of  the  restored  hierarchy  in  their 
native  land ;  and  the  others  are  to  find  the  place  of 

'  Stephen  Badin,  ordained  at  Baltimore,  1793. 

^  Jolin  Lefevre  Cheverus,  Bishop  of  Boston,  1810;  of  Montauban, 
1818  ;  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux.  1826  ;  Cardinal,  1836. 


I 

IN  NoKTH  America.  221 

their  rest  in  tlie  land  wliich  tlieir  toils  have  conse- 
crated. 

So  that  France,  the  pioneer  of  Christianity,  heir  of 
the  Spaniard  in  Louisiana,  and  sacred  conqueror  of 
Canada,  sends  the  first  company  of  soldiers  of  Mary 
to  reduce  to  the  submission  of  God  the  centre  of  this 
vast  northern  continent. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  in  England  that  this  act  of  the 
sacred  drama  opens.  In  the  centre  of  a  well-watered 
valley,  running  downward  through  Dorsetshire  to  the 
Channel,  stands  the  antique  castle  of  Lulworth,  a 
gothic  pile  of  four  round  towers  united  by  massive 
battlemented  curtains.  This  was  the  home,  first  of 
the  Norman  de  Lolleworths ;  in  King  John's  days,  of 
the  princely  Newburghs ;  then  of  the  Bindon  Howards; 
lastly  of  the  Welds,  sprung  from  Edric  the  Wild.  For 
these  a  home,  for  others  a  temporary  refuge.  For 
here  the  austere  monks  of  Our  Lady  of  La  Trappe 
found  a  shelter  when  driven  from  their  mountain  for- 
ests by  the  merciless  sans  culottes;  and  later,  by  another 
effort  after  universal  equahty,  the  old  waUs  became 
the  abode  of  the  royal  house  of  France,  before  they 
moved  to  that  castle  of  sadder  and  darker  history,  the 
Scottish  Holyrood.' 

It  was  the  scene  of  many  a  hard  fight  in  olden  days, 
as  when  de  Clare  stormed  it  for  the  Empress  Matilda ; 
but  none  of  its  memories  can  interest  us  so  much  as 
that  of  the  midsummer  morning  which  gave  their  first 


Sir  Bernard  Burke's  "  Landed  Gentry,"  Article,  Weld. 


222  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

bishop  to  tlie  United  States.  Tlie  day  was  not  un- 
happily chosen.  For  the  discovery  and  consecration 
of  the  land  from  Maine  to  Florida,  from  the  Chesa- 
peake to  California,  by  the  servants  of  Mary,  and  the 
solemn  dedication  of  it  to  her  name,  may  be  likened 
to  her  Nativity.  The  growth  of  the  French  and  Span- 
ish churches  is  her  beautiful  youth.  Then  come  the 
dark  times  of  Puritanic  conquest,  the  destruction  of 
the  Catholic  missions,  and  the  disappearance  of  the 
Cathohc  Indians,  as  the  dark  time  of  her  sorrows  from 
the  Flight  into  Egypt  until  the  Crucifixion.  And 
now  the  new  rising  of  the  Church  is  visible  meetly 
on  the  Feast  of  her  Assumption,  when  she  went  up 
into  the  presence  of  the  King  her  Son,  and  "the 
King  rose  up  to  do  her  reverence,  and  they  set  a 
throne  for  the  King's  Mother,  and  she  sate  at  his  right 
hand." ' 

So  that  from  that  Feast  of  Our  Blessed  Lady's  As- 
sumption in  the  castle  chapel  of  old  Lulworth,  unto 
that  which  has  been  celebrated  this  year  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  North  America,  the  devotion 
to  Mary  has  grown  steadily  ;  and  now  there  is  scarcely 
a  county  without  a  church  to  her  name;  scarcely  a 
square  mile  from  the  Gulf  to  the  Arctic  Ocean  wherein 
that  name  has  not  at  least  been  proclaimed.  In  that 
short  space  of  a  single  human  life,  seventy-two  years, 


2  Ijih.  ill,  Begum:  Venit  ergo  Betlisabee  ad  Regem  Salomonem  ; 
et  surrexit  rex  in  occursum  ejus:  adoravitque  earn,  et  sedit  super 
tlironum  suum ;  positusque  est  thronus  matri  regis  quae  sedit  ad  dex- 
teram  regis. 


IN  North  America.  223 

"  the  least  has  become  a  thousand,  and  the  httle  one 
a  most  strong  nation."  * 

The  holy  de  Montfort/  if  we  remember  rightly,  ap- 
plies to  Our  Lady  those  words  of  the  Song  of  Songs : 
"  As  the  apple-trees  among  the  trees  of  the  wood,  so 
is  my  beloved  among  the  children  of  men  ;"  ^  and  says 
that  she  shall  come  to  unite  in  herself  almost  all  the 
veneration  paid  by  man  to  saints ;  or  at  least  shall  be 
acknowledged  as  supereminently  worthy  of  it  in  every 
part  of  Christendom.  And  we  seem  to  see  the  fulfil- 
ment of  this  declaration  in  North  America.  In  Europe, 
every  town  and  village  has  its  own  patron,  who  ab- 
sorbs most  of  the  devotion  of  the  peoxDle ;  but  in  this 
country,  placed  under  her  especial  protection  by  Span- 
iard and  Frenchman,  by  emigrant  Englishman,  and 
American  in  the  fresh  flush  of  new  independence, 
nearly  the  whole  devotion  of  the  people  concentrates 
in  her;  or  turns,  for  her  sake,  to  Saint  Anne  among 
the  Canadians,*  or  to  Saint  Joseph  among  the  faithful 
in  the  United  States. 

What  antique  Cathohc  land,  even  Spain  or  Ireland, 
can  show  what  this  country  shows,  even  by  the  ex- 


'  Isaias,  Ix.  22. 

*  See  Dr.  Neligan's  "  Saintly  Characters."— Kirker :  New  York. 

'  Sicut  malus  inter  ligna  silvarum,  sic  dilectus  meus  inter  filios. — 
Cant.  ii.  3. 

•*  The  \-oyager  gives  as  reverential  reason  for  his  great  devotion  to 
St.  Anjie,  that  Oiir  Lady  is  too  lofty  and  great  for  his  unworthinesg 
to  address  directly  ;  and  so  as  other  Catholics  plead  through  the  ma- 
ternity of  Mary  to  the  Heart  of  Jesus,  the  Canadian  implores  the  ma- 
ternity of  St.  Aune  to  intercede  with  the  Heart  of  Mary. 


224:  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

tremelj  imperfect  record  of  the  almanac,  one  church  in 
every  Jive  bearing  the  beautiful  and  enduring  name  of 
the  Mother  of  Our  Lord  and  of  us  ?  What  territory, 
of  one-tenth  the  vastness,  has  ever  been  placed  by- 
four  independent  and  unintercommunicating  powers 
under  her  peculiar  patronage  and  protection  ?  Then, 
with  this  for  the  divinely  ordered  starting-point,  let  us 
look  to  see  whether  the  other  means,  the  zeal  of  the 
ministry,  has  been  commensin^ate,  in  its  degree  of 
course,  with  the  clear  grace  bestowed  by  our  eternal 
Father.  "We  adopted  as  principles,"  at  the  outset  of 
this  work,  that  a  devotion  advances  in  proportion  to 
its  own  merits  and  to  the  ardor  of  the  ministry  who 
propagate  it.  The  whole  of  this  great  book,  Orsini's 
noble  "  Life,"  and  our  own  humble  continuation,  is  an 
exhibition  of  the  merits  of  Mary,  and  we  have  seen  the 
latest  illustrious  historian  of  America,  puritan  though 
he  be,  supporting  us  in  our  claims  for  the  early  pioneer 
servants  of  Mary  in  the  land.  Let  us  begin  by  stating 
what  they  have  done  in  a  single  evident  way  for  this 
beautiful  devotion — as  Kenelm  Digby  would  say,  the 
way  of  churches. 

There  are  many  churches  of  Our  Blessed  Lady  un- 
known to  this  writer.  Of  seven  dioceses  in  the  British 
Possessions  he  has  no  account ;  but  with  all  this,  and 
with  the  great  imperfection  of  such  records  as  he  has, 
he  still  ran  give  the  following  list  of  Mary's  shrines  in 
North  America. 

'  See  pages  9,  10. 


IN  North  America.  225 

There  are  (1862)  nine  dedications  to  Marj  Help  of 
Christians,  nine  to  Mary  Star  of  the  Sea,  two  to  Mary 
Kefuge  of  Sinners,  seven  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Mary. 
There  are  sometimes  only  one,  sometimes  as  many  as 
four,  to  Our  Lady  of  the  Port,  of  the  Isle,  of  the  Cata- 
ract, of  the  Gulf,  of  the  River,  of  the  Kocks,  coliimha  in 
foraminibiis  'petnc^  Our  Lady  of  the  Portage,  of  the 
Snows,  of  the  "Woods,  of  the  Lake,  of  the  Desert. 
There  is  Our  Lady  of  La  Salette,  of  Belen,  of  Levis, 
and  nine  of  Guadalupe.  Again,  we  have  Our  Lady 
of  Light,  of  Grace,  of  Good  Help,  of  Eefuge,  of  Good 
Hope,  of  Prompt  Succor.  There  are  four  to  Our  Lady 
of  Victories,  three  to  Our  Lady  of  Consolation,  five  to 
Our  Lady  of  Loretto,  seven  to  Our  Lady  of  Angels, 
nine  of  the  Rosary,  seven  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  six- 
teen of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy,  twenty-one  of  Sorrows, 
twenty-two  of  Carmel,  thirty-one  to  "Our  Lady," 
simply. 

There  are  three  churches  of  the  Mother  of  God,  five 
of  the  Purification,  eleven  of  the  Nativity  fourteen  of 
the  Annunciation,  sixteen  of  the  Visitation,  fifty  of  the 
Assumption,  one  hundred  and  forty-five  of  the  Im- 
maculate Conception,  and  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven  which  are  simply  called  Saint  Mary's. 

In  all,  there  stand  in  North  America,  in  honor  of  its 
Patroness,  more  than  eight  hundred  churches. 

How  this  swift  growth  has  come  about  in  so  short  a 
time  we  are  about  to  look  at  more  in  detail.     "We  are 

"  My  dove  in  the  clefts  of  tlie  rock." — Song  of  Solomon,  ii.  14. 
P  10* 


226  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mart 

to  see  the  priest  and  tlie  religious,  the  energy  of  man 
and  the  patient  labor  of  woman,  under  new  difficulties 
and  trials  peculiar  to  their  position,  extending  to  the 
people  who  surround  them  their  own  earnest  devotion 
to  God  and  Mary.  Coeval  with  the  consecration  of 
Bishop  Carroll,  the  Daughters  of  Our  Lady  of  Mt. 
Carmel  were  in  Maryland  suffering  from  poverty  al- 
most extreme,  fasting  eight  months  in  the  year,  sleep- 
ing on  straw,  obtaining  a  modification  of  their  clois- 
tered austerity  to  enable  them  to  become  teachers,* 
and  offering  perpetual  prayer  for  the  country  wherein 
they  came  to  dwell. 

The  Poor  Clares  followed,  but  did  not  continue  long; 
when  they  declined,  the  Visitation  of  Our  Lady  took 
their  place.  Long,  long  ago  among  the  mountains  of 
Chamblais,  there  stood  an  ancient  shrine  of  the  Blessed 
Yirgin,  resorted  to  by  pious  pilgrims.  Here,  gradually, 
certain  hermits  gathered,  as  in  Switzerland  they  clus- 
tered about  the  famous  Abbey  of  Einsiedeln,  and  the 
saintly  Bishop  of  Geneva  had  given  them  for  title, 
Hermits  of  the  Visitation.  Afterwards,  when  Saint 
Jane  Frances  de  Chantal  formed  her  congregation  at 
Annecy,  in  Savoy,  St.  Francis  de  Sales  called  them  the 
Order  of  the  Visitation  of  Our  Lady.'  It  was  their 
rule  and  title  which  Miss  Alice  Lalor,  by  direction  of 
Bishop  Neale,  adopted  for  her  new  American  sister- 
hood in  Georgetown,  A.  D.   1814;   and  now  between 

'  De  Courcy's  History  of  the  Catliolic  Church  in  the  United  States, 
p.  83. 

«  Approved  by  Pope  Urban  VIII.,  1626. 


IN  NoETH  America.  227 

three  and  four  liundi-ed  of  these  daughters  of  Mary- 
teach  reverence  to  her  name  in  these  States. 

Ah-eadj  the  Sisters  of  Charity  were  at  Emmittsburg 
with  their  venerable  foundi-ess,  Mother  Seton,  1809. 
To-daj  where  are  they  not?  Their  orphan-asylums 
and  schools,  their  hospitals,  theii'  barrack  near  the 
battle-field  mark  their  presence.  And  there  are  no 
longer  in  this  whole  vast  country,  we  believe,  unless 
perhaps  in  New  England,  many  who  do  not  know  and 
reverence  the  dark-robed  form  as  it  moves  on  its  er- 
rand of  mercy  through  the  streets.  Add  to  all  these, 
the  fervent  priests,  so  few  at  first  in  number ;  the  early 
bishops,  penniless,  sometimes  barely  clothed,  and  often 
without  light  or  fire  in  winter;  traversing  distances 
on  horseback  that  we  grumble  at  passing  over  in  the 
railway-train  now;  enduring  all  this  cheerfully  and 
heroically  as  we  shall  soon  see.  Sum  up  all  these  and 
we  begiu  akeady  to  observe  that  Devotion  to  Mary  in 
Central  North  America  is  to  rival  the  Devotion  of  the 
Canadas. 

Bishop  Carroll  foimd  himseK  spiritual  governor  of 
all  the  territory  then  owned  by  the  United  States,  and 
his  missionaries  started  from  Baltimore  for  the  West 
as  one  would  strike  out  to  sea  alone  in  a  bark  canoe. 
For  the  uncut  forest  surged  around  them  with  its  vast 
green  waves  of  verdure;  the  Indian,  rarely  friendly, 
lurked  in  its  dim  recesses;  the  road  was  oftenest  no 
clearer  than  a  hunter's  trail  or  a  forsaken  deer-path. 
They  themselves  were  scholarly  men,  nurtured  in 
European  habits,  necessities,  ideas  of  distance.     But 


228  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

iu  the  precise  spirit  of  Marquette,  Jogues,  Brebceuf, 
they  put  their  trust  in  God  and  went  wheresoever  He 
directed.  Borne  by  them,  the  Devotion  to  Our  Lady 
followed  the  course  of  the  great  natural  boundaries 
of  this  mighty  land.  Flowing  westward  from  the  bay 
which  the  first  missionaries  called  St.  Mary's;  from 
the  town  which  its  first  settlers  called  St.  Mary's ;  this 
river  of  devotion,  checked,  as  might  be  suj^posed,  by 
the  chain  of  mountains,  by  Alleghany,  and  Cumber- 
land, and  Blue  Eidge,  divided  into  three  streams. 
One  of  these  streams  ran  northward,  as  if  to  seek  the 
old  wells  of  devotion  among  the  red-men  and  the 
French ;  and  this  soon  carried  on  its  bosom  a  saintly 
Cheverus  to  hear  through  the  gloom  of  the  wood  the 
song  Magnificat  and  the  Salva  Regina  from  the  lips 
of  our  old  friends  the  ever-faithful  Abenaki.  A  second 
ran  southward,  to  visit  again,  after  an  interval  of  two 
centuries,  the  spots  where  the  blood  of  Jesuit  and 
Carmelite,  of  Augustinian  and  Franciscan,  had  min- 
gled to  baptize  the  Carolinas.  And  the  third  followed 
the  course  of  la  helle  Riviere,  and  flowed  with  its  yel- 
low waters  through  the  fertile  heart  of  the  land,  to  the 
river  wherein  De  Soto  had  been  buried,  and  to  which 
Marquette  had  given  its  name  of  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion. 

In  eighteen  years,  sixty-eight  priests  and  eighty 
churches  formed  too  heavy  a  burden  for  the  venerable 
Bishop  of  Baltimore,  and  the  sees  of  New  York,  Bos- 
ton, Philadelphia,  and  Bardstown  in  Kentucky,  were 
established.     Let  us  look  at  a  type  or  two  of  the  men 


IN  NoKTH  America.  229 

who  led  these  missions.  As  early  as  1795  there  was 
one  Father  Smith  who  was  missionary  for  an  enormous 
district  in  Western  Maryland,  Yirginia,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. There,  for  forty-one  years,  he  toiled  in  hum- 
ble faithfulness ;  from  thence  his  soul  ascended  to  the 
judgment  which  his  life  had  merited.  It  will  not  be 
uninteresting  to  consider  some  points  in  the  life  of  this 
servant  of  Mary,  this  glorious,  although  unrenowned 
pioneer  of  her  honor  in  this  country. 

This  Father  Smith,  missionary  of  Hagerstown  and 
Cumberland  in  Maryland,  of  Martinsburg  and  Win- 
chester in  Virginia,  of  Chambersburg  and  the  Alle- 
ghany mountain  sweep  in  Pennsylvania,  and  thence 
southward;  of  far  more,  in  a  word,  than  what  now 
constitutes  the  entire  diocese  of  Pittsburg ;  this  rival 
of  Gomez  in  the  south,  and  of  Father  Chaumonot  in 
the  north ;  this  founder  of  Our  Lady  of  Loretto  in  the 
centre  of  the  continent,  was  not  always  known  as  Father 
Smith,  In  his  own  country,  the  vast  Muscovite  em- 
pire, then  ruled  by  the  Czar  Alexander  I.,  he  was 
known  as  the  Prince  Augustine  de  Gallitzin.  His 
father.  Prince  Demetrius  Gallitzin,  was  ambassador  of 
Catherine  the  Great  to  Holland,  at  the  time  of  the 
missionary's  birth.  His  mother,  the  Princess  Amelia, 
was  daughter  of  that  famous  Field-marshal  Count  von 
Schmettau  who  illustrates  the  miHtary  annals  of  Fred- 
erick the  Great. 

The  young  GaUitzin  was  decorated  in  his  very 
cradle  with  military  titles,  which  destined  him  from 
his  bhth  to  the  highest  posts  in  the  Kussian  army. 


230  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mart 

Higli  in  tlie  favor  of  the  Empress  Catherine,  his  father, 
a  haughty  and  ambitious  nobleman,  dreaming  only  of 
the  advancement  of  his  son  in  the  road  of  preferment 
and  worldly  honor,  was  resolved  to  give  him  an  educa- 
tion worthy  of  his  exalted  birth  and  brilliant  prospects. 
Behgion  formed  no  part  of  the  plan  of  the  father,  who 
was  a  proficient  in  the  school  of  Gallic  infidelity,  and 
the  friend  of  Diderot.  It  was  carefully  excluded. 
Special  care  was  taken  not  to  suffer  any  minister  of 
religion  to  approach  the  study-room  of  the  young 
prince.  He  was  surrounded  by  infidel  teachers.  His 
mother,  a  Catholic  by  bu'th  and  early  education,  was 
seduced  into  seeming  Voltairianism  by  the  court  fash- 
ion of  her  native  country,  and  her  marriage  with  Prince 
Demetrius  confirmed  her  habits  of  apparent  infidehty ; 
we  say  apparent,  for  she  retained,  even  in  the  salons 
of  Paris  and  in  the  society  of  Madame  du  Chatelet,  a 
fervent  devotion  to  Saint  Augustine,  that  grand  doctor 
of  the  Church  who  had  been  a  gTeat  worldling  and 
heretic.  After  the  marriage  of  the  elder  Gallitzin  with 
the  Princess  Amelia,  he  brought  her  to  Paris  and  in 
troduced  her  to  his  literary  infidel  friends,  especiallj- 
to  Diderot,  in  whose  company  he  delighted.  This 
philosopher  endeavored  to  win  the  princess  over  to  his 
atheistical  system  ;  but  though  she  was  more  than  in- 
different on  the  subject  of  rehgion,  her  naturally  strong 
mind  discovered  the  hollowness  of  his  reasoning.  It 
was  remarked  that  she  would  frequently  puzzle  the 
philosopher  by  the  Httle  interrogative — why  ?  And  as 
he  could  not  satisfy  her  objections,  she  was  determined 


m  North  America.  231 

to  examine  thoroughly  the  grounds  of  revelation. 
Though  having  no  rehgion  herself,  she  was  determined 
to  instruct  her  children  in  one.  She  opened  the  Bible 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  her  children  the 
historical  part  of  it.  The  beauty  of  revealed  truth, 
notwithstanding  the  impediment  of  indifference  and 
unbehef,  would  sometimes  strike  her — ^her  mind  being 
of  that  mould  which,  according  to  Tertullian,  is  natu- 
rally Christian. 

A  terrible  iUness  called  her  mind  back  to  God  ;  she 
saw  the  truth  and  beauty  of  the  Cathohc  faith,  and  she 
returned  to  the  protection  of  Mary  on  the  Feast  of  St. 
Augustine,  in  the  week  following  the  Octave  of  Our 
Lady's  Assumption. 

It  is  to  the  happy  influence  and  bright  example  of 
his  mother,  to  whom,  under  God,  we  must  mainly  as- 
scribe  the  conversion  of  the  young  Demetrius.  As  the 
illustrious  Bishop  of  Milan,  St.  Ambrose,  consoled  the 
mother  of  Augustine,  when  he  used  to  say  "  tlmt  it  was 
impossible  for  a  son  to  he  lost  for  loJiom  so  many  tears  ivere 
shed ;"  so  we  may  beheve  that  the  pious  Furstenberg, 
her  son's  tutor,  cheered,  in  a  similar  manner,  this  good 
lady,  in  her  intense  solicitude  for  a  son  whom  she  so 
tenderly  loved. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  the  young  prince  was  re- 
ceived into  the  Church.  He  was,  in  the  year  1792,  ap- 
pointed aid-de-camp  to  the  Austrian  General  Von  Lil- 
ien,  who  commanded  an  army  in  Brabant  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  first  campaign  against  the  French  Jacobins. 
The  sudden  death  of  the  Emperor  Leopold,  and  the 


232  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

murder  of  the  king  of  Sweden  by  Ankerstrom,  both 
suspected  to  be  the  work  of  the  French  Jacobins  who 
had  declared  war  against  all  kings  and  all  religions, 
caused  the  governments  of  Austria  and  Prussia  to 
issue  a  very  strict  order  disqualifying  all  foreigners 
from  military  offices.  In  consequence  of  this  order  the 
young  Prince  de  GalHtzin  was  excluded.  Kussia  not 
taking  any  part  in  the  war  against  France,  there  was 
no  occasion  offered  to  him  for  pursuing  the  profession 
of  arms  for  which  he  had  been  destined  by  his  military 
education.  It  was  therefore  determined  by  his  parents 
that  he  should  travel  abroad  and  make  the  grand  tour. 
He  was  allowed  two  years  to  travel ;  and  lest,  in  the 
mean  time,  his  acquirements,  the  fruits  of  a  very  fin- 
ished education,  might  suffer,  he  was  placed  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Kev.  Mr.  Brosius,  a  young  missionary 
then  about  to  embark  for  America,  with  whom  his 
studies  were  to  be  still  continued.  In  the  company  of 
this  excellent  clergyman  he  reached  the  United  States 
in  1792. 

The  next  we  need  see  of  him  is  as  a  seminarian  with 
the  Sulpicians  in  Baltimore,  November  5,  1792.  In 
this  moment  of  his  irrevocable  sacrifice  of  himself  to 
God,  the  feehngs  of  his  inmost  soul  may  be  gathered 
from  a  letter  which  he  wrote  at  the  time  to  a  clergy- 
man of  Munster,  in  Germany.  In  it  he  begs  him  to 
prepare  his  mother  for  the  step  he  had  finally  taken, 
and  informs  him  that  he  had  sacrificed  himseK,  with 
all  that  he  possessed,  to  the  service  of  God  and  the 
salvation  of  his  neighbor  m  America,  where  the  har- 


IN  NoKTH  Amekica,  233 

vest  was  so  great  and  tlie  laborers  so  few,  and  wliere 
the  missionary  had  to  ride  frequently  forty  and  fifty 
miles  a  day,  undergoing  difficulties  and  dangers  of 
every  description.  He  adds,  that  he  doubted  not  his 
call,  as  he  was  willing  to  subject  himself  to  such  ardu- 
ous labor. 

Father  Etienne  Badin  was  the  first  priest  ordained 
in  the  United  States ;  Prince  Gallitzin  was  the  second, 
and  he,  as  early  as  1799,  was  settled  for  life  in  the 
then  bleak  and  savage  region  of  the  Alleghanies. 
From  his  post  to  Lake  Erie,  from  the  Susquehanna  to 
the  Potomac,  there  was  no  priest,  no  church,  no  re- 
ligious station  of  any  kind.  Think,  then,  of  the  in- 
evitable labors  and  privations  of  tliis  missionary ;  and 
again  understand  how  the  devotion  to  Mary  has  spread 
over  North  America. 

During  long  missionary  excursions,  frequently  his 
bed  was  the  bare  floor,  his  pillow  the  saddle,  and  the 
coarsest  and  most  forbidding  fare  constituted  his  re- 
past. Add  to  this,  that  he  was  always  in  feeble  health, 
always  infirm  and  delicate  in  the  extreme,  and  it  was 
ever  a  matter  of  wonder  to  others  how  the  Httle  he  ate 
could  support  nature  and  hold  together  so  fragile  a 
frame  as  his.  A  veritable  imitator  of  Paul,  "  he  was  in 
labor  and  painfulness,  in  watching  often,  in  hunger 
and  thirst,  in  fasting  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness."  ^ 

When  he  first  began  to  reside  permanently  on  this 
mountain,  in  1779,  he  found  not  more  than  a  dozen 

'  2  Cor.,  xi. 


234  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

Catholics,  scattered  here  and  there  through  a  trackless 
forest.  He  first  settled  on  a  farm  generously  left  by 
the  Maguire  family  for  the  maintenance  of  a  priest. 
A  rude  log-church,  of  some  twenty -five  or  thirty  feet, 
was  sufl&cient  for  a  considerable  time  for  the  first  httle 
flock  that  worshipped  according  to  the  faith  of  their 
fathers  on  the  Alleghany.  He  commenced  his  colony 
with  twelve  heads  of  families;  he  left  behind  him 
when  he  died  six  thousand  devotees  of  Mary. 

But  the  population  grew  rapidly,   allured  by  the 
saintly  reputation  of  Father  Smith.     It  was  he  who 
purchased  enormous  tracts  of  land,  who  built  the  grist 
and  saw  mill,  he  who  found  himself  oppressed  by  debt 
in  his  old  age.     Of  course  he  expected  his  father's  in- 
heritance, and  when  that  prince  died  in  1803,  he  was 
pressed  to  quit  his  beloved  Loretto  and  go  to  claim 
his  rights  in  Russia.     His  mother  and  friends  urged 
him  to  come ;  his  prelate  was  on  the  point  of  com- 
manding him ;  but  when  he  met  Bishop  Carroll,  he 
gave  reasons  for  remaining  among  his  flock  which  that 
prelate  could  not  in  the  end  refute.     He  stated  that 
he  had  caused  a  great  number  of  Catholic  families  to 
settle  in  a  wild  and  uncultivated  region,  where  they 
formed  a  parish  of  a  considerable  size ;  that  the  Legis- 
lature had  proposed  to  establish  there  a  county-seat ; 
and  that  numbers  still  continued  to  flock  thither.     The 
bishop  at  length  fully  acquiesced  in  his  remaining,  as 
he  could  not  send  another  in  his  place.     The  apostoHc 
missionary  then  wrote  to  his  mother,  that  whatever  he 
might  gain  by  the  voyage,  in  a  temporal  point  of  view, 


IN  North  America.  235 

coiild  not,  iu  his  estimation,  be  compared  with  tJie 
loss  of  a  single  sold  that  might  be  occasioned  by  his 
absence. 

Had  he  gone,  it  would  have  been  in  vain,  for  the 
Emperor  and  Senate  of  St.  Petersburg  settled  the 
question  by  disinheriting  him  for  "having  embraced 
the  Cathohc  faith  and  clerical  profession."  Neverthe- 
less, he  hoped  to  share  with  his  sister,  who  had  in- 
herited all.  And  she  did  supply  him,  until  the  ruined 
German  Prince  de  Solm,  whom  she  had  married,  made 
away  with  her  fortune  as  he  had  done  with  his  own. 
Then  came  his  days  of  debt,  dreariest  of  all  days  to 
men.  But  he  lived  so  that  none  should  suffer  but 
himself.  He  neither  ate  nor  drank  nor  was  clothed  at 
the  expense  or  loss  of  any  creditor  or  others.  His 
fare  was  often  but  some  black  bread  and  a  few  vege- 
tables ;  coffee  and  tea  were  unknown  luxuries  in  those 
times.  His  clothing  was  home-made  and  of  the  most 
homely  description ;  his  mansion  was  a  miserable  log- 
hut,  not  denied  even  to  the  poorest  of  the  poor.  With 
the  prodigal  son  of  the  Gospel,  but  in  a  most  meritori- 
ous and  heroic  sense,  he  could  say  :  "How  many  hired 
servants  in  my  father's  house  have  plenty  of  bread, 
and  I  here  perish  with  hunger !" ' 

"  Being  now,"  he  says,  "  in  my  sixty-seventh  year, 
burdened,  moreover,  with  the  remnant  of  my  debts, 
reduced  from  $18,000  to  about  $2,500,  I  had  better 
spend  my  few  remaining  years,  if  any,  in  trying  to 

'  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  xv. 


236  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

pay  off  tliat  balance,  and  in  preparing  for  a  longer 
journey." 

On  that  Loretto  of  liis  love  he  expended,  from  the 
wreck  of  his  fortune,  $150,000.  So  is  it  with  the  ser- 
vitors of  Mary.  Three  centuries  ago,  they  gave  their 
bodies  to  be  burned,  their  heads  to  the  scalping-knife, 
their  finger-joints  to  the  teeth  of  the  Iroquois ;  later, 
they  gave  their  lives  and  fortunes,  counting  them  as 
nothing  if  so  they  might  win  souls  to  Christ. ' 

Let  his  friend  and  biographer  tell  the  secret  of  all 
this,  and  thus  show  what  a  Muscovite  prince  can  have 
in  common  with  this  book  : 

"  As  he  had  taken  for  his  models  the  Lives  of  the 
Saints,  the  Francis  of  Sales,  the  Charles  Borromeos,  the 
Vincents  of  Paul,  so  like  them  he  was  distinguished  for 
his  tender  and  Hvely  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin ; 
and  he  lost  no'  opportunity  of  extolling  the  virtues  of 
Mary.  He  endeavored  to  be  an  imitator  of  her  as  she 
ivas  of  Christ.  He  recited  her  rosary  every  evening 
among  his  household,  and  inculcated  constantly  on  his 
people  this  admirable  devotion,  and  all  the  other  pious 
exercises  in  honor  of  Mary.  The  church  in  which  he 
said  daily  Mass,  he  had  dedicated  under  the  invoca- 
tion of  this  ever-glorious  Virgin,  whom  all  nations 
were  to  call  blessed.  It  was  in  honor  of  Mary,  and  to 
place  his  people  under  her  peculiar  patronage,  that  he 
gave  the  name  of  Loretto  to  the  town  he  founded  here, 


'  Omnia  detrimentum  feci  et  arbitror  ut  stercora  ut  Christum  lucri- 
faciam. — Phil,  iii,  8. 


m  NoBTH  Amekica.  237 

after  the  far-famed  Loretto,  wliicli,  towering  above  tlie 
blue  wave  of  tlie  Adriatic,  on  tlie  Italian  coast,  ex- 
hibits to  the  Christian  pilgrim  the  hallowed  and  mag- 
nificent temple  which  contains  the  sainted  shrine  of 
Mary's  humble  Jiouse  in  loliicli  she  at  Nazareth  heard  an- 
nounced the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation,  and  which  the 
mariners,  as  they  pass  to  encounter  the  perils  of  the 
deep,  or  return  in  safety  from  them,  salute,  chanting 
the  joyous  hymn,  Ave  Maris  Stella  !  For,  like  St.  John, 
he  recognized  in  her  a  mother  recommended  to  him 
by  the  words  of  the  dying  Jesus :  "  He  saith  to  the 
disciple.  Behold  thy  mother !"  And  so,  when  the  frame 
was  worn  out  in  her  service  and  her  Son's,  he  went  up 
to  see  her  face  on  high.' 

Proceeding  in  the  order  proposed  to  ourselves,  we 
give  the  first  place  to  that  which  bears  the  name  of 
Our  Lady. 


1  Discourse  on  the  Life  and  Virtues  of  Rev.  Demetrius  Augustine 
Gallitzin,  by  the  Very  Rev.  Thomas  Heyden.  Printed  for  the  Monu- 
mental (to  Prince  Gallitzin)  Committee  of  Loretto,  Penn.  From  this 
eloquent  discourse  nearly  the  whole  of  the  above  account  is  taken. 


238  Devotion  to  B.  V.  Maky 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OcB  Lady  of  the  Lake. 

XoT  long  ago,  in  1834,  in  the  old  town  of  Mans,  in 
Catholic  France,  a  lioly  and  devoted  priest,  Moreau, 
was  professor  of  dogma  in  the  seminary  and  canon  of 
the  cathedral  in  the  town.  He  was  eloquent,  zealous, 
and  one  of  the  grandest  preachers  in  France.  He 
gave  up  much  of  his  time  to  preaching  retreats ;  that 
is,  to  the  leading  of  his  flock  away  from  the  world,  to 
the  "quiet  pastures  and  still  waters,"  where  is  the 
presence  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  whose  crook  and  staff 
rule,  guide,  guard,  lead;  who  "restoreth  the  souls" 
of  the  erring,  the  weary,  and  the  so-called  lost,  and 
giveth  them  to  eat  and  to  drink  of  His  own  table, 
whereat  is  "  fuhiess  for  evermore." '  After  many  years 
thus  passed,  his  bishop  authoiized  him  to  form  an 
auxihary  society  of  priests  to  aid  him  in  this  pastoral 
labor.  He  accordingly  associated  with  himself  four 
pious  and  devoted  clergymen,  with  whom  he  lived  a 
regular  community  life  in  the  seminary  for  over  a  year. 

About  this  time,  or  a  few  years  previously,  a  com- 
munity of  a  different  kind  had  been  founded  in  the 
same  diocese,  by  the  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Dujarier,  one  of 

'  Psalm,  xxii. 


m  NoETH  America.  239 

tlie  venerable  survivors  of  the  Kevolution.  It  consisted 
of  a  band  of  devoted  men,  mostly  young,  who,  without 
aspiring  to  the  ecclesiastical  state,  yet,  animated  by  a 
true  zeal  to  labor  for  God's  glory  and  the  salvation  of 
souls,  had  formed  themselves  into  a  rehgious  com- 
munity under  the  title  of  the  Brothers  of  St.  Joseph, 
consecrating  themselves  to  the  Christian  education  of 
youth,  and  having  no  higher  aim  than  to  imitate  the 
humble  and  hidden  life  of  their  holy  patron. 

Then,  two  years  later,  moved  by  the  self-sacrifice  of 
these  good  men,  some  pious  and  devoted  women  of  the 
humbler  class  of  society  ofi"ered  themselves,  from  a 
motive  of  holy  charity  and  zeal,  to  conduct  the  work 
of  the  estabhshment,  and  to  serve  those  good  Priests 
and  Brothers  as  the  holy  women  of  the  Gospel  did  our 
Sa\dour  and  his  disciples.  God  willed  it  that  this 
event  should  inspire  our  w^orthy  founder  with  the  idea 
of  establishing,  as  a  third  branch  of  the  association,  a 
sisterhood  to  co-operate  with  the  two  former  branches 
in  all  their  pious  labors,  and  to  labor  themselves  in  a 
particular  manner  for  the  benefit  of  the  youth  of  their 
own  sex ;  the  whole  association  thus  forming  a  united 
and  most  efficient  body,  able  to  act  in  concert  upon  aU 
classes  of  society.  Under  the  training  of  the  saintly 
Superioress,  Mother  Mary  of  St.  Dorithei,  Juet,  they 
made  a  fervent  and  regular  novitiate,  and  were,  one 
year  afterwards,  admitted  to  the  rehgious  profession 
under  the  name  of  "  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross,"  and 
patronage  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Seven  Sorroivs. 

They  were,  said  their  founder,  to  seek  God  in  aU 


240  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

tilings,  to  aim  only  at  lieaven,  to  aspire  to  tlie  happi- 
ness of  possessing  Jesus,  of  belonging  only  to  Him  and 
to  His  Blessed  Motlier,  making  use  of  all  interests, 
rights,  or  goods  for  the  sole  honor  of  their  Divine 
Master  and  the  salvation  of  souls.  They  were  to  lead 
a  Hfe  of  abnegation  in  all  employments  and  exercises, 
never  acting  save  by  the  will  of  a  Superior ;  a  life 
regular  and  exact,  by  constant  and  universal  fidelity  to 
the  rules  and  constitutions  of  the  Society,  observing 
them  in  the  spirit  of  love  and  not  of  fear,  by  the  Hght 
of  faith  and  not  through  human  motives ;  a  life  social 
by  humility,  in  meekly  bearing  or  charitably  support- 
ing others,  accomplishing  to  the  letter  the  maxim  of 
the  pious  author  of  the  Imitation,  of  mutually  support- 
ing, consoling,  aiding,  instructing,  and  admonishing 
one  another  ;  a  life  edifying  by  modesty,  the  forgetful- 
ness  of  self,  religious  gravity,  avoiding  in  conversation 
all  criticisms,  raillery,  and  above  all,  levity ;  a  life  of 
labor — a  life  interior  and  elevated  to  God  by  the  habit- 
ual practice  of  the  acts  of  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity, 
by  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ,  whom  we  are  partic- 
ularly bound  to  imitate  in  our  conduct,  for  we  must 
above  all  lead  a  life  hidden  in  our  Lord,  if  we  would 
not  ruin  the  work  of  the  Holy  Cross. 

"  Here,"  he  says,  "  are  three  orders  subordinate  one 
to  the  other,  an  imitation  of  the  Holy  Family,  where 
Jesus,  Mary,  and  Joseph,  although  of  conditions  so 
different,  are  made  one  by  the  union  of  thoughts  and 
the  uniformity  of  conduct. 

"  In  order  to  cement  this  union,  and  this  imitation 


IN  North  Ameeica.  241 

of  the  Holj-  Family,  I  haTe  consecrated,  and  conse- 
crate again  as  much  as  in  me,  the  Priests,  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus,  Pastor  of  souls — the  Brothers,  to  the 
Heart  of  St.  Joseph,  their  patron ;  and  the  Sisters,  to 
the  Heart  of  Mary,  pierced  with  the  sword  of  grief. 

"  Behold,  my  dear  children  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  plan 
of  government  which  it  is  the  will  of  God  should  be 
followed  in  the  administration  of  Our  Lady  of  Holy 
Cross." 

The  Bishop  of  Yincennes,  Monseigneur  de  St.  Pa- 
lais, desii'es  to  have  these  children  of  St.  Mary  to  help 
him  in  extending  her  renown  through  the  west  of 
Northern  America.  So  Father  Sorin,  still  Superior, 
comes  with  six  brothers.  They  "bless  God  and  his 
Holy  Mother"  for  their  safe  arrival,  and  they  claim 
possession  of  the  soil  "  in  the  name  of  the  Cross,  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  of  St.  Joseph."  * 

Monseigneur  sends  his  new  colony,  llatris  cnltores 
Dei,  to  the  northern  part  of  Indiana,  about  thirty 
mUes  south  of  Lake  Michigan.  This  section  had  been 
secured,  years,  before,  by  the  proto-priest  of  the 
United  States,  Eev.  Father  Badin;  his  efforts,  how- 
ever, had  only  been  crowned  by  the  erection  of  a  little 
log-church,  and  a  poorer  log-house.  But  the  situation 
is  one  of  extreme  beauty — not  grandeur  ;  for  northern 
Lidiana  can  claim  nothing  of  the  sublime  or  grand  in 
her  scenery.     Yet  the  monotony  of  her  low  land  and 


'   Vide  Life  of  Rev.  F.  Cointet,  Priest  and  Missionarj  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Holy  Cross.     Cincinnati,  1855. 
K  11 


242  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  IMaey 

irrairies  is  frequently  diversified,  and  the  character  of 
the  beautiful  given  it  by  clear,  placid,  little  lakes,  sur- 
rounded by  gently  undulating  plains.  The  farm  in 
question  contained  two  of  these  pleasant  lakes,  to 
which  Indian  tradition  had  attached  many  a  tale  of 
enchantment. 

Dedicating  this  spot  to  "Notre  Dame  du  Lac," 
Father  Sorin  selected  a  charming  little  island,  in  the 
largest  lake,  as  the  site  for  two  new  novitiates — one 
for  the  Priests  he  hoped  to  train  for  his  new  mission, 
and  the  other  for  the  Brothers.  A  beautiful  situation 
was  also  chosen  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  for  the  future 
college ;  then,  with  firm  confidence  in  Divine  Provi- 
dence, he  spent  the  winter  in  collecting  the  scattered 
Cathohcs  of  the  neighborhood  into  a  regidar  congrega- 
tion, in  forming  his  Novitiate  of  the  Brothers,  and  at- 
tending to  the  temporal  wants  of  his  little  colony. 

At  this  period,  the  aid  so  long  and  earnestly  desired 
by  this  devoted  missionary  was  furnished  in  the  per- 
son of  his  former  beloved  friend,  the  young  Abbe 
Cointet,  he  who  in  youth  had  made  this  resolution— 
"To  give  up  some  time  every  day  to  reading  holy 
books."     Then,  in  his  journal,  after  that,  he  adds  : 

"For  the  same  intention,  I  shall  say  the  Rosary. 
Since  an  early  age  I  have  been  consecrated  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  and  to  her  care  have  I  confided  my  chas- 
tity. I  will  study  attentively  the  virtues  of  this  Holy 
Mother,  to  whom  I  am  strictly  bound  to  have  many 
traits  of  resemblance,  and  towards  whom  I  ardently 
desire  to  feel  all  the  tenderness  of  a  true  child." 


m  NoETH  Amekioa.  243 

So,  then,  there  are  two  priests ;  how  apostolic,  in 
one  point,  these  words  of  Father  Sorin  himself  shall 
hint : 

"For  some  years  the  wardrobe  of  Father  Cointet 
and  his  Superior  was  considered  very  full  when  they 
possessed  a  pair  of  hoots  and  a  hat  as  property  in  com- 
mon. The  boots  he  adroitly  managed  not  to-  wear 
until  they  had  passed  through  the  stages  of  good  and 
indifferent,  but  the  hat  could  not  be  so  easily  managed, 
there  being  no  alternative  except  to  replace  the  ecclesi- 
astical square  cap  by  the  beaver,  when  on  the  Mission. 
Accordingly,  if  Father  Cointet  was  recognized  riding 
or  walking  off  with  a  hat  on  his  head,  it  was  known  to 
the  members  of  the  little  community  that  the  Superior 
was  at  home." 

And  now,  what  else  is  to  be  said  of  these  devoted 
souls  shall  not  be  in  the  words  of  him  whose  name  is 
on  the  title-page  of  this  book,  but  in  those  of  a  sister 
of  the  order,  of  a  servant  of  Mary  at  the  foot  of  the 
Cross.  As  "  Notre  Dame  du  Lac"  now  stands,  it  holds, 
in  various  establishments  circKng  the  pleasant  waters 
of  the  lake,  a  college,  a  manual-labor  school,  a  convent 
in  its  popular  sense,  the  initiatory  schools  of  the 
Brothers,  and  the  seminary — all  and  each  of  these 
solemnly  dedicated  in  1845  to  devotion  to,  and  placed 
under  the  special  protection  of,  the  Blessed  Mother  of 
God.  St.  Mary's  Lake  is  thus  encircled,  and  over  all, 
one  hundred  and  ten  feet  from  the  ground,  stands  the 
statue  of  "Blessed  among  women."  She  looks  with 
love  upon  the  apprentices  of  the  manual-labor  school 


244  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

in  their  different  worksliops  and  fields ;  tlie  Brotliers 
in  their  quiet  novitiate  ;  the  seminarians  in  their  holy 
solitude.  And  off  a  mile  to  the  west,  her  eye  rests  dis- 
tinctly upon  the  institutions  of  the  Sisters  of  the  same 
order,  dwelling  under  the  title  of  St.  Mary's  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception. 

The  Catholic  pupils  of  both  places  are  enrolled  in 
the  sodalities  of  the  Children  of  Mary  and  the  Living 
Eosary. 

Every  Saturday  evening  the  Litany  of  Loretto  is 
solemnly  chanted  in  the  conventual  churches. 

The  Month  of  Mary  is  here  made  a  glorious  festival 
of  thirty-  one  days.  Benediction  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment is  given  every  evening,  and  a  discourse  pro- 
nounced by  one  of  the  Eev.  Fathers  in  honor  of  their 
Heavenly  Queen. 

The  Assumption  is  annually  celebrated  by  a  solemn 
procession  after  High  Mass.  On  that  day  every  pic- 
turesque spot  is  adorned  with  some  memento  of  the 
Queen  of  Heaven.  Arches  ornamented  with  her  image 
point  the  route  to  the  pious  pilgrims,  and  the  murmur- 
ing waters  of  the  lake,  the  songs  of  the  birds,  and  all 
the  pleasant  sounds  of  midsummer  in  the  green  woods, 
together  with  the  joyous  chime  of  twenty-one  bells  in 
the  church-tower,  unite  to  form  a  triumphal  chorus  to 
the  happy  voices  of  the  children  of  Notre  Dame  as 
they  intone  the  Litany  of  Loretto,  the  3Iagmfcat  and 
the  Salve  Begina. 

Devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  may  truly  be  said  to 
be  the  presiding  spirit  of  the  place.     Private  chapels 


m  North  America.  245 

in  her  honor  are  in  every  house.  The  grounds  are 
adorned  with  statues  of  the  Madonna  and  Child  and 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  At  Notre  Dame  a 
luxuriant  arbor,  at  least  an  eighth  of  a  mUe  in  length, 
dedicated  to  Notre  Dame  aux  Baisins,  bears  conspicu- 
ously on  every  arch  the  different  titles  of  the  Litany  of 
Loretto. 

In  the  conventual  church  is  the  altar  of  the  Seven 
Dolors,  above  which  is  a  fine  group  of  statuary  repre- 
senting the  body  of  Our  Blessed  Lord  taken  from  the 
Cross,  and  laid  in  the  arms  of  his  Mother.  A  magnifi- 
cent stained  window  above  the  main  altar  represents 
the  Assumption. 

In  every  direction  the  spirit  of  Mary  seems  to 
breathe  and  influence.  The  full  ecclesiastical  year 
should  be  passed  at  Notre  Dame,  in  order  to  under- 
stand hqw  every  festival  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  brings 
some  new  or  touching  evidence  of  the  love  which  the 
Society  of  Holy  Cross  bears  to  Notre  Dame,  and 
which  it  seeks  to  instil  into  the  hearts  of  its  pupils. 

On  a  beautiful  little  promontory  opposite  the  col- 
lege, the  zeal  of  the  Superior  has  caused  to  be  erected 
a  chapel  dedicated  to  Our  Lady  of  the  Angels.  Here 
the  CathoHc  pupils  spend  one  night  of  every  month  in 
adoration  before  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  This  chapel 
is  built  on  the  exact  plan  of  the  celebrated  chapel  of 
"  Our  Lady  of  the  Angels,  or  the  Portiuncula,"  and  lias 
been  enriched  by  the  Holy  See  with  aU  the  privileges 
of  that  world-renowned  pilgrimage  established  by  St. 
Francis  of  Assisium. 


246  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Ma  by 

These  privileges,  which  have  made  "  St.  Mary's  of 
the  Angels"  one  of  the  richest  treasures  in  Italy,  con- 
sist of  plenary  indulgences  gained  by  all  the  faithful 
who,  being  heartily  sorry  for  their  sins,  go  to  confes- 
sion, receive  Coromunion,  and  visit  the  chapel  between 
the  first  and  second  Yespers  of  the  22d  of  August — not 
one  indulgence  alone,  but  as  many  times  during  the 
day  as  the  faithful  enter  the  chapel  with  the  proper 
dispositions  will  they  gain  a  plenary  indulgence. 

These  immense  spiritual  blessings  were  granted  to 
the  prayer  of  St.  Francis  by  the  visible  intercession  of 
Mary,  and  by  Jesus  Christ  himseK.  During  six  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  years  the  devout  among  the 
people  of  Italy,  and  many  pilgrims  from  foreign  climes, 
have  assembled  at  Assisium  on  this  feast  of  grace  and 
mercy.  So  numerous  were  these  devotees,  that  it  is 
related  of  St.  Bernardino,  when  he  preached  at  St. 
Mary's  of  the  Angels,  that  two  hundred  thousand  per- 
sons were  assembled  around  the  chapel. 

And  to  give  the  faithful  of  North  America  an  oppor- 
tunity of  gaining  the  same  treasures,  and  in  the  same 
manner,  the  Society  of  Holy  Cross  has  transported,  as 
it  were,  this  chapel  with  all  its  spiritual  wealth  mto 
our  midst. 

At  St.  Mary's  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  the 
residence  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross,  one  mile 
west  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Lake,  the  duphcate  of  the 
Santa  Casa,  or  Holy  House  of  Loretto,  has  been 
erected  as  the  special  chapel  of  the  children  of  Mary. 
This  chapel  has  also  been  enriched  by  the  Holy  See 


IN  North  America.  247 

with  all  the  indulgences  belonging  the  famous  pilgrim- 
age of  Loretto. 

These  two  chapels  bring  to  our  own  land  the  two 
most  famous  shrines  of  Italy,  and  are  most  powerful 
means,  in  the  hands  of  the  religious,  of  promoting  in 
the  hearts  of  the  youth  intrusted  to  their  care  a  deep 
and  abiding  love  for  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God ;  and 
may  we  not  hope  that  at  no  distant  day  love  for  Our 
Blessed  Lady  wiU  bring  many  a  pilgrim  to  these  two 
chapels,  in  crowds,  if  not  as  great,  at  least  as  fervent, 
as  those  which  visit  the  original  chapels  in  Italy  ? 

The  Society  of  Holy  Cross  has  several  houses  of 
education  established  in  different  parts  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada ;  and,  as  at  Notre  Dame  and  St. 
Mary's,  so  do  they  all  aim  at  spreading  the  love  and 
devotion  for  their  Holy  Mother  by  every  means  which 
their  zeal  and  resources  will  present. 

The  consecration  of  this  order  was  made  on  the 
Feast  of  Our  Lady  of  Snows,  and  ia  the  snows  of 
November  they  first  took  possession  of  the  old  log- 
church  and  the  adjacent  lands.  This  church  had  been 
dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  by  the  early  French 
missionaries,  de  Seille  and  Petit,  and  here  these  holy 
men  had  taught  the  Indian  to  love  and  venerate  their 
Heavenly  Queen.  When  Father  Sorin  came  and  heard 
of  the  pioneer  devotion  of  the  American  proto-priest, 
he  rejoiced  at  the  thought  of  laboring  in  this  domain, 
already  consecrated  to  his  Blessed  Mother.  Not  as 
owners  of  the  soU,  but  as  faithful  and  devoted  servants 
of  Mary  did  the  first  members  of  Holy  Cross  com- 


248  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary  ' 

mence  their  work.     Every  thing  was  to  be  improved, 
every  thing  made   useful   or  beautiful.     For  Mary's 
sake,   their   Queen,  the  lake  was   called    St.  Mary's 
Lake.      Plans    for    novitiate,    church,    manual-labor 
school,   and    college,   were   sketched,   and   all  conse- 
crated to  Notre  Dame,  and  all  the  land  was  Mary's 
land.     Notwithstanding  the  rigors    of    an  unusually 
severe  winter,  zeal  for  the  glory  of  the  august  Mother 
of  God   warmed  the  hearts  of  her  children  with  its 
ardent   and    generous  rays.     Often    during   the  first 
years  they  actually  suffered  for  lack  of  food  and  rai- 
ment.    Their  favorite  devotion  on  such  occasions  was 
the  thousand  Hail  Maries  said  in  common— a  devo- 
tion still  customary  among  the  members  of  the  con- 
gregation. 

Let  us  learn,  among  the  items  of  this  wondrous 
North  American  Devotion  to  Mary,  how  these  sisters 
of  hers  are  consecrated  to  her  Seven  Sorrows.  Let 
one  of  them  still  speak,  and  tell  how  pleasing,  how 
dear  to  the  Queen  of  Martyrs  must  be  the  devotion  to 
her  Sorrows ;  how,  more  than  all  other  devotions,  it 
tends  to  supernaturalize  the  mind,  since  in  it  the  most 
wonderful  divine  operations  mingle  with  the  common 
woes  and  sorrows  of  a  suffering  world ;  and  it  ex- 
presses that  union  of  self-abasement  and  seK-oblivion 
in  which  all  the  greater  graces  of  the  spiritual  life  take 
root.  Devotion  to  the  Sorrows  of  Mary  unites  us  to 
an  abiding  sorrow  for  sin.  It  is  all  stained  with  the 
precious  blood  of  our  dear  Lord,  and  thus  it  puts  us 
into  the  very  depths  of  His  Sacred  Heart. 


IN  NoETH  America.  2-i9 

The  lessons  which  Our  Mother's  Sorrows  teach  us 
are  wanted  at  almost  every  turn  in  hfe ;  they  are  im- 
jDarted  with  such  loving  tenderness,  with  such  pathetic 
simpHcity,  and  in  the  midst  of  such  countless  simili- 
tudes between  our  sinless  Mother  and  our  sinful 
selves,  that  no  school  can  be  found  in  which  so  much 
heavenly  wisdom  is  taught  so  winningly  as  in  the  Sor- 
rows of  Mary. 

Before  we  quit  this  pleasant  subject,  let  us  see  that 
this  land  of  Mary  does  not  belong  solely  to  the  living, 
but  also  to  the  memory  of  the  dead.  In  the  parish 
graveyard  chapel  stands  the  statuary  group  of  the 
Mother  with  her  dead  Son.  Over  the  earth  wherem 
the  Sisters  are  buried,  smiles  serenely  "  Our  Lady  of 
Peace ;"  where  the  priests  and  seminarians  repose,  is 
the  statue  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  Every- 
where Madonna,  she  is  the  Lady  of  Lake  and  Land. 

When  recreation  calls  the  children  of  the  Sisters' 

schools  together,  among  other  pleasures  they  have  the 

reading  of  their  journal,  the  "  Mystical  Kose."     It  was 

in  this  that  a  Sister,  whose  heart  is  full  of  music  as  of 

devotion,  sang  in  sweet  rhythm  her  prayer  for  North 

America.     Later,  we  will  see  that  Litany  chanted  by 

the  Ursuline  nuns  before  Our  Lady  of  Swift  Help, 

Notre  Dame  de  Prompt  Secours,  during  the  battle  of 

New  Orleans,  in  1812  ;  now  let  us  read  the  hymn  of  a 

religious  of  Mary's  Sorrows,  sung  in  this  time  of  great 

national  pain  and  small  individual  charity : 

11* 


250  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Makt 

STELLA  MATUTINA. 

0  Star  of  Morning !  dense  the  clouds 

That  hover  round  our  nation's  bark, 
And  howling  winds  shriek  through  her  shrouds 

As  on  she  ploughs  the  billows  dark. 
Oh,  show  thy  light  1  thou  art  our  gmde. 

Thy  Virgin  beams  our  path  shall  lead. 
As  fearful  o'er  the  stormy  tide. 

Before  the  conquering  blast  we  speed. 

O  Star  of  Morning !  pierce  the  gloom. 

And  gild  our  path  along  the  sea, 
Ere  anarchy  shall  seal  our  doom, 

And  chant  the  death-dirge  of  the  free. 
From  St.  Augustine,  far  away. 

To  bold  St.  Lawrence'  northern  strand. 
From  San  Francisco  to  the  bay 

That  waters  honored  Maryland, 

Deep  love  for  thee  with  mystic  power 

Hath  mingled  with  our  nation's  life. 
And  aided  us,  in  danger's  hour, 

'Gainst  wars  and  elemental  strife. 
0  Star  of  Morning !  'twas  thy  ray 

That  led  the  mariner  of  old 
Along  the  ocean's  trackless  way, 

Earth's  western  wonders  to  unfold. 

'Twas  love  for  thee  that  fired  his  breast, 

And  made  him  count  all  perils  light, 
That  opened  to  the  cloud-girt  West, 

Thy  morning  beams  to  heathen  sight. 
0  Star  of  Daybreak  !  when  the  hand 

Of  bold  oppression  crossed  the  wave. 
Thy  shelter  sweet  in  Maryland 

Made  conscience  there  no  more  a  slave. 

Thy  chosen  child,  Lord  Baltimore, 
Struck  off  the  manacles  that  boimd, 

By  tyrant  power,  the  infant  shore. 
And  stamped  her  soU  true  freedom's  ground. 


IN  North  America.  251 

'Twas  there  that  Faith — celestial  bird — 

First  flung  abroad  her  carol  loud ; 
And  thou,  fair  Star,  her  matins  heard, 

Which,  soaring  heavenward,  pierced  the  cloud. 

Sweet  Orb  of  Dawn  1  it  was  thy  ray 

That,  creeping  through  the  western  wilds. 
Kissed  the  broad  streams,  and  kindled  day 

Along  the  woodland's  dark  defiles. 
And  woke  a  song  of  praise  that  wound 

Where  mighty  lakes  majestic  flow  ; 
Memnou's  famed  lyre  were  harshest  sound 

To  anthem  blest  that  hailed  thy  glow ; 

The  touching  strain  so  old — so  new. 

The  words  we  ne'er  shall  cease  to  frame. 
Those  mystic  syllables  that  drew 

A  God  from  heaven  at  thy  sweet  name, — 
"  Hail,  full  of  grace !  the  Lord,  with  thee. 

On  earth  is  blessed  evermore ;" 
And  Gabriel's  salutation  free, 

Echoed  in  joy  from  shore  to  shore  ; 

And  savage  men  submissive  bowed, 

To  own  a  Saviour  crucified, 
While  Error,  in  her  dusky  shroud, 

Sought  in  her  darkest  haunts  to  hide. 
The  waters  of  the  sylvan  lake. 

And  wildwood  stream  were  hallowed  then. 
By  sacred  touch  for  Jesus'  sake. 

And  Mass  was  sung  in  glade  and  glen  ; 

And  crosses  in  the  wilderness 

Sprang  up  to  bless  primeval  shade. 
Where  lilies  wild,  and  water-cress, 

Alone  before  thanksgiving  made. 
0  peerless  Orb !  along  thy  wake, 

How  clear  thy  constellated  train 
Of  virgin  stars,  fair  saints  that  take 

Their  rank  along  the  ethereal  main 


252  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

A  constant  liarlDinger  thou  art 

Of  Him,  the  Son  of  Light  Divine, 
Who  drank  sweet  warmth  from  thy  pxixe  heart, 

Whose  wondrous  grace  through  thee  doth  shine  I 
WTien  climbing  soft  the  evening  gray, 

Thy  radiant  form  doth  gem  the  sky 
We  know  ere  long  will  come  the  day. 

We  know  the  rising  Sun  is  nigh. 

Oh,  yes,  when  o'er  our  sinful  souls 

Thy  genial  rays  benignant  fall, 
Our  Blessed  Lord  His  love  unfolds. 

And  Mercy's  daylight  spreads  o'er  alL 
Yes,  thou  wilt  bring  to  us,  sweet  Star 

(A  nation  of  young  restless  life), 
The  light  of  peace,  and  near  and  far 

Will  cease  the  bitter  sound  of  strife. 

We  ask  thy  aid ;  we  beg  thy  care ; 

We  know  we  cannot  plead  in  vain ; 
So,  trustful,  through  the  murky  air 

We  hail  thee  with  thy  heavenly  train. 
O  blissful  Star !  words  cannot  frame 

The  gratitude  we  owe  to  thee. 
As  reverent  now  we  name  thy  Name, 

And  meekly  suppliant  bow  the  knee. 

Then  show  thy  light — ^thou  art  our  guide  ; 

Thy  Virgin  beams  our  path  shall  lead. 
As  hopeful  o'er  the  stormy  tide 

Before  the  conquering  blast  we  speed. 

They  educate  in  the  love  of  Mary  five  thousand  five 
hundred  children,  Mary  Angela  is  the  Mother  Pro- 
vincial, and  Mary  of  the  Ascension,  Superior.' 


Letter  of  Very  Rev.  E.  Sorin,  October,  1863. 


IN  NoETH  Ameeica.  253 


CHAPTEE  Xni. 

Ottb  Lady's  Sisters — Les  Sceubs  de  Notre  Dame. 

Let  us  look  at  other  orders  of  liolj  women  wlio 
bear  the  name  or  advance  the  devotion  to  Our  Blessed 
Lady  in  these  States.  Li  fifteen  dioceses — ^perhaps  in 
more— you  find  les  Soeurs  de  Notre  Dame,  Our  Lady's 
Sisters ;  and  they  are  engaged  teaching  thousands  to 
venerate  the  sacred  Mother  of  God.  Four  of  their 
houses  are  (1862)  in  the  diocese  of  New  York,  eight 
are  in  Cincinnati,  three  in  New  Orleans,  three  in  far 
Monterey.  They  are  in  Baltimore  and  Oregon,  in 
Newark  and  Detroit,  in  Philadelphia  and  Boston — 
spreading  and  growing  Hke  the  mustard  seed  of  the 
Gospel ;  covering  this  vast  continent  with  a  lace-work 
of  prayer,  and  education,  self-denial,  devotion,  and 
love  for  God  and  man,  yet  are  scarcely  sixty  years  in 
existence. 

It  is  amazing  how  much  of  fruit  for  North  Amer- 
ica, how  many  unrecked-of  blessings  to  its  headlong 
people,  sprang  from  the  horror  and  anguish  of  the 
French  Kevolution.  These  Sisters  of  Our  Lady 
issued,  by  God's  will,  fi-om  that  triumph  of  Satan  and 
Moloch,  as  lilies  from  the  putrid  fertilizers  of  the 
soil.    Marie  Louise,  Viscountess  de  BHn-Bourdon,  and 


254  Deyotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maky 

Mademoiselle  JuKe  Billiart,  sought  refuge  in  Belgium 
from  the  merciless  iniquity  of  the  land  once  ruled  by 
St.  Louis.  And  here,  in  1804,  they  pronounced  their 
first  vows.  This  was  their  vow :  to  give  themselves, 
and,  by  the  efforts  of  their  lives,  to  extend  devotion  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  protected  by  the  Immacu- 
late Heart  of  Mary.  Next  year  they  venture  sixty 
miles  into  the  north  of  France,  to  Amiens,  and  there 
commence  their  work.' 

They  have  a  lodging,  it  is  evident,  and  some  room 
for  scholars — of  what  excellence  and  how  large  we 
cannot  say ;  but  we  can  discern  one  pleasant  figure  at 
the  very  beginning.  It  is  the  figure  of  Sister  Ber- 
nardino, wandering  about  the  streets  with  a  big  bell  in 
her  hands.  Gravely  along  the  wealthier  streets,  cou- 
rageously down  fetid  alley-ways,  and  into  quarters  of 
the  very  poor,  her  bell  chanting  Vivos  vocoj'  her  own 
voice  translating  that  to  those  who  came  about  her ; 
and  at  length  her  heart  thrilling  with  gratitude  and 
love  to  gentle  Mother  Mary,  as  she  leads  some 
seventy  children  to  the  schools — sweet  first-fruits  of 
Our  Lady's  new  harvest  in  half-ruined  France.  By 
1807  the  Mother  House  is  well  estabhshed  at  Namur, 
and  begins  to  send  forth  its  colonies.  So  far  as  we 
can  ascertain,  the  first  flight  of  doves  from  this  cote 
was  a  long  one,  over  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  across 
half  a  continent  to  the  very  heart  of  this  country — to 

'  Notice  BUT  I'ordre  des  Soeurs  de  Notre  Dame  de  Namur. 
•  "  I  call  the  living."    Part  of  the  old  inscription  upon  church  bells 
"  Vivos  voco ;  mortuos  plango ;  sabbata  pango." 


IN  NoBTH  America  255 

Cincinnati.     There  they  still  remain,  teaching  thirty- 
six  hundred  pupils  in  the  cathedral  city  alone. 

But  Ohio  does  not  satisfy  their  ambition.     Their 
next  flight  from  Namur  is  aU  the  way  to  Oregon ;  to 
that  river  no  longer  to  be  known  as  one  that 
"  rolls  and  hears  no  sound 


Save  its  own  dashing,'" 

but  a  stream  henceforth  to  show  the  shadow  of  the 
Cross,  and  to  mingle  the  song  of  its  waves  with  the 
music  of  Mass,  and  vespers,  and  convent  litany,  or  with 
the  sweet,  wild  notes  of  the  Indian  children,  as  they 
chant,  from  their  canoes,  their  hymn  to  Blessed  Mary  : 

Ayas  skokoum  maika, 

Kwanissom  tlosh  Marie 

Kopa  saliale  taye. 

Wawa  pons  naika 

Pous  ka  kwa  yaka  temtom 

Naika  memmeloucht, 

Ayak  yaka  eskam  naika  sahale. 

In  thee  I  place  my  confidence, 

Oh,  Virgin,  strong  and  fair ;' 
Be  thy  protection  my  defence,    . 

Be  all  my  life  thy  care  I 
And  when  I  draw  my  latest  breath. 

And  seek  my  endless  lot, 
Obtain  for  me  a  holy  death, 

And  then  forsake  me  not. 

It  was  under  the  charge  of  the  apostolic  de  Smet 
that  these  devoted  Sisters  of  Nore  Dame  made  their 


'  Bryant's  Thanatopsis. 

*  "  Pulchra  ut  luna,  terribilis  ut  castrorum  acies  ordinata." — Cant 
Canticorum,  vi.  9. 


256  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  INIaey 

long  journey  :  a  journey  vexed  witli  many  storms,  and 
almost  finished  by  one  off  the  coast.  Decks  were  swept 
clear  by  the  irresistible  waves  ;  sails  shivered ;  top- 
masts went  by  the  board ;  water-casks  completely 
emptied ;  no  soundings ;  nothing  but  guesses  as  to 
their  whereabouts,  and  those  guess^  proved  after- 
wards to  be  wrong.  But  the  Sisters  were  calm,  and 
full  of  that  most  beautiful  courage  which  is  called  res- 
ignation :  full  of  resignation,  but  not  at  the  expense 
of  hope.  They  gather  in  their  cabin,  holding  there  to 
whatever  can  be  seized  to  steady  themselves,  and  in- 
tone their  litany ;  they  make  a  new  vow  to  the  Immac- 
ulate Heart  of  Mary,  and  then  they  trust.  By  and 
by  the  storm  subsides,  the  winds  abate,  the  waves  go 
down,  and  as  the  crimson  lustre  of  the  sunset  is  flung 
athwart  the  sea,  they  notice,  floating  towards  them, 
masses  of  long,  green,  salt-meadow  grass,  and  they 
know  by  it  that  the  shore  is  on  their  lee.' 

And  so  they  landed,  and  on  the  eve  of  the  Assump- 
tion of  Our  Lady  they  lodged  in  a  tent  on  the  banks  of 
the  WaUamette.  In  the  morning,  they  raised  and 
adorned,  as  they  might,  a  little  altar,  and  Mr.  Blanchet, 
afterwards  Archbishop,  offered  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  On 
the  second  day  of  the  Octave  they  reached  the  mission. 
It  was  a  house,  but  without  doors,  without  windows ; 
only  with  open  spaces  ready  for  such  luxm'ies.  Car- 
penters were  the  rarest  and  most  costly  articles  in 
Oregon  in  those  days.    "  Every  man  is  his  own  builder 

1  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  torn.  xvii.  483.    Lettre  du 
Pere  de  Smet. 


IN  NoBTH  America.  257 

liere,"  was  tlie  consolation  whicli  Our  Lady's  Sisters 
got  when  tliey  looked  at  tlie  yawning  window-frames 
and  portals.  No  matter  ;  tliey  took  the  Higblandman's 
proverb  for  their  law :  "  Set  a  stout  heart  to  a  steep 
hill-side  ;"  and  one  undertook  to  learn  the  management 
of  the  plane,  another  voted  herself  a  sashmaker,  a  third 
claimed  to  be  a  house-painter,  and  if  any  found  abso- 
lutely no  mechanical  vocation  within  her,  she  went 
straightway  to  Our  Lady  and  asked  lier  help  for  the 
others. 

Then  the  voyagers,  and  the  Indians,  and  the  half- 
breeds  brought  melons,  and  potatoes,  and  some  eggs  ; 
and,  that  nothing  might  be  wanting  to  make  the  good 
religious  feel  at  home,  they  added  thirty-five  or  forty 
little  girls  to  go  to  school,  and  about  twoscore  orphans 
whom  they  generously  handed  over  to  the  sisters  as  a 
KT-qua  eg  dei,  a  possession  forever.  So  they  got  them- 
selves and  their  pupils  and  their  orphans  housed  in 
some  sort,  and  from  that  time  till  now,  about  the  hour 
of  twihght,  they  have  never  failed  to  chant  the  Litany 
of  Our  Lady  of  Loretto.  Its  sounds  of  benediction 
float  over  the  "Wallamette,  and  further,  over  the  scarce- 
inhabited  wild  tracts  of  Oregon,  and  over  the  stray 
hunter-band  of  savages,  or  knot  of  trappers  ;  and  bear 
better  promises  to  Northern  America  than  that  land  is 
at  all  disposed  to  beheve  in. 

The  prospects  of  this  mission  were  so  brilliant,  that 
they  lured  "  Sister  Eenilde  and  her  companions"  to  try 
their  fortune  in  the  same  direction.  That  is  the  style 
and  title  of  this  new  expedition  :  "  Sceur  Renilde  et  ses 


258  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

compagnes,  Soeurs  de  Notre  Dame.''''  TVTiat  Sister  Ee- 
nilda's  name  was  in  the  world  we  liave  no  idea  of ;  still 
less  can  we  suggest  any  clue  to  those  anonymous  com- 
panions, except  in  two  instances,  which  we  shall  see  in 
a  moment.  All  that  we  know  is  contained  in  a  few 
very  dusty  leaves,  hardly  aspiring  to  the  dignity  of  a 
pamphlet,  found  ©n  a  top  shelf  of  the  library  of  his 
Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Cincinnati.  It  is  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  a  "very  dear  Mother  Constautine,"  whom 
we  suspect  to  have  her  abode  either  at  Namur  or 
Amiens.  It  is  dated  "  July  5,  1847,  on  board  the 
Morning  Star  ;"  and  contains  the  journal  of  the  voyage 
to  Oregon,  signed  as  above  stated,  "  Sister  Renilda  and 
Tier  companions,  Sisters  of  Our  Lady" 

It  was  on  the  22d  of  February,  "Washington's  birth- 
day, if  Americans  choose  to  accept  that  omen,  and  on 
the  "  eighth  day  of  our  Novena  in  honor  of  the  Holy 
Virgin,"  says  Sister  Eenilda,  "  that  we  embarked  at 
Brest.  Monseigneur  the  Archbishop  gave  us  his  bene- 
diction, and  at  nine  o'clock  of  the  cool  morning,  a  gun 
gave  the  signal  for  departure.  And  while  the  Morning 
Star  wound  her  way  slowly  among  the  buoys,  small 
craft,  and  other  obstacles  that  somewhat  clogged  our 
course  out  of  the  harbor,  we  all  gathered  on  the  quar- 
ter-deck, chanted  the  Litany  of  the  Blessed  "Virgin  and 
sang  the  Ave  Maris  Stella,  so  to  place  again  our  voyage 
under  Her  protection,  whom  none  ever  invoked  in 
vain." 

The  Morning  Star  is  not  a  very  unpleasant  shif)  for 
religious  to  sail  in,  for  the  captain  hears  Mass  every 


IN  North  America.  259 

day,  and  at  eight  bells  lie  calls  the  crew  to  prayers. 
"  It  is  very  beautiful,  dear  Mother,"  says  Kenilda,  "  to 
hear  those  hardy  sailors,  their  captain  at  their  head, 
recite  Our  Father,  Hail  Mary,  and  the  Creed,  and  end 
with  the  Angelus,  which  done,  the  lieutenant  wishes 
them  *  good  voyage,  stout  courage,  and  fair  wind  ;'  and 
then,  at  night  again,  they  come  together  and  sing 
'Hail,  Ocean's  Sacred  Star,'*  and  say  the  same  prayers 
as  at  morning."  The  gentle  Sister  might  easily  find 
that  to  be  very  beautiful ;  that  solemn  recommenda- 
tion of  themselves  to  God's  help  through  Mary's 
Mother-love  of  the  tough  seamen — those  men  who 
are  professionally  nearest  to  death  and  God.  And 
they  who  cannot  share  her  admiration  must  be  inland 
bred.  "For,"  says  the  Holy  Ghost,  "they  that  go 
down  to  sea  in  ships,*  who  are  employed  upon  the 
great  waters ;  these  men  see  the  wonders  of  the  Lord 
and  His  works  upon  the  deep.  For  He  saith  the 
word,  and  the  stormy  winds  arise ;  He  speaketh,  and 
the  waves  are  lifted  up.  They  mount  up  towards  the 
heavens ;  they  sink  down  into  the  deeps ;  their  souls 
faint  for  fear.  They  are  troubled ;  they  reel  hke  a 
drunken  man ;  all  their  wisdom  is  swallowed  up.  And 
then  they  cry  unto  the  Lord  in  their  affliction,  and  He 
bringeth  them  out  of  their  distresses ;  He  turneth  the 
storm  into  a  calm  and  all  the  waves  are  still." 

It  is  necessary  to  know  that  Sister  Renilda  is  near 
enough  God  to  retain  some  feeling  of  poetry.     She 

*  Ave  Maris  Stella.  *  Psalm,  cvi.  25. 


260  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

thinks  tliat  the  sea  offers  a  panorama  of  beauty,  and 
speaks  of  it  to  her  "dear  Mother  Constantine"  in 
terms  which  probably  contain  all  her  possible  elo- 
quence, but  which  fall  infinitely  short  of  the  exhaust- 
less  reality  of  beauty  which  the  main  presents.  "Ah!" 
she  says,  "what  gracious  varieties  does  the  sea  ex- 
hibit! Now  it  is  calm  as  peace,  now  troubled;  then 
surging  furiously ;  it  is  green,  it  is  blue  of  heaven,  it 
flashes  with  phosphorescent  gleams.  The  sun,  when 
setting,  clothes  all  the  deep  in  raiment  of  Hving  hght ; 
and  the  horizon  in  clouds  of  every  tint,  gold  and  pur- 
ple, violet,  and  green,  and  orange.  These  take  the 
most  fantastic  forms :  volcanoes  in  eruption ;  vast 
crimson  seas  of  fire ;  mountains  snow-capj)ed,  and 
forests,  towns,  and  battlemented  castles.  Our  recrea- 
tion is  to  look  on  this ;  and  before  going  to  our  rest, 
after  this  spectacle,  we  chant  the  Litany  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  and  say  her  Eosary  together." 

"  I  cannot  tell  you,  my  dear  Mother,  what  happi- 
ness one  feels  in  singing  Mary's  praise,  our  dear,  good 
Mother's,  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean ;  under  a  heaven 
sown  with  stars  new  to  us,  to  the  solemn  sound  of  seas 
which  break  upon  the  frail  sides  of  our  ship ;  and  then, 
full  of  confidence  and  of  thoroughest  trust,  we  sleep 
in  the  hand  of  God,  tranquilly  as  in  our  European 
convent." 

Still  at  sea,  they  keep  the  Feast  of  the  Annunciation 
on  board  the  Morning  Star,  with  high  Mass,  vespers, 
and  a  sermon.  "  It  is  very  consoling  to  us,"  says 
Sister  Eenilda,  "  to  see  Mary  so  loved  and  honored  by 


IN  North  America.  261 

all  wlio  sniTOimd  us ;  almost  all  tlie  sailors  wear  the 
medal  of  tlie  Immaculate  Conception,  and  many  add 
tlie  cliaplet.  Easter,  too,  they  keep  at  sea ;  and  the 
altar  on  deck  is  covered  with  the  missionary  banner  of 
Oceanica,  where  the  Oblates  of  Mary  are  at  work — a 
white  banner  bearing  a  crimson  cross  ;  and  then,  upon 
a  background  of  pale-blue  drapery,  there  hangs,  for 
altar-piece,  a  painting  of  St.  Mary,  blessed  by  the 
Holy  Father." 

And  so  after  many  experiences — after  the  length  of 
the  Atlantic,  Cape  Horn,  the  length  of  the  Pacific, 
they  reach  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia.  Then  the  In- 
dians come  off  in  their  canoes,  and  scramble  aboard, 
Chinooks,  and  Oregons,  and  Wallawallas,  with  a 
haughty  Dacotah  here  and  there ;  and  they  all  make 
the  sign  of  the  cross,  many  wearing  the  chaplet,  and 
many  others  the  medal  of  Our  Lady.  The  mission- 
aries go  ashore  and  bring  back  wood-blooms,  lupins 
probably,  and  the  three  violets  and  other  forest  flow- 
ers, and  the  Sisters  "  make  bouquets  of  them  to  adorn 
the  Virgin's  Altar." '  With  all  the  length  of  the  voy- 
age, however,  and  with  all  those  sentiments  and  abso- 
lute stormy  realities,  with  all  those  prayers,  and 
hymns,  and  intoned  htanies,  do  not  let  it  be  supj)osed 
that  the  gentle  Sisters  grew  puritanic,  or  their  faces 
long  and  sour.  No,  no ;  if  anybody  may  wear  a  gay 
face,  it  is  a  child  of  Mary,  devoting  all  to  her  and  her 
Eternal  Son.     "  We  never  passed  our  recreations  more 

*  Lettre  de  Soeur  Renilde,  p.  17. 


262  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

gajly,"  Sister  Kenilda  says.  "  Even  the  bad  weather 
helps  to  make  us  fun.  We  call  one  end  of  our  par- 
ticular cabin  Wallamette,  such  being  the  name  of  our 
mission  not  jet  reached,  and  the  other  end  we  name 
The  Falls."  The  latter  place  being  probably  on  the 
lee-side,  with  a  very  decided  slope.  "  All  of  us,"  says 
the  Sister,  "visit  The  Falls  several  times  a  day. 
Sister  Francisca  goes  oftener  than  any  of  the  rest 
of  us.  And  only  the  other  day  Sister  Mary  Alphon- 
sus,  after  rapidly  sliding  thither,  her  soup-plate  in 
her  hand,  was  turned  about  by  the  roll  of  the  vessel, 
and  shding  back  as  rapidly,  emptied  the  contents 
of  that  soup-plate  on  the  head  of  Sister  Mary 
Bernard." 

And  this  is  the  additional  information  promised 
by  the  present  writer  some  page  or  so  above.  This 
is  what  he  knows  about  the  other  two  sisters ;  that 
Mary  Alphonsus,  compelled  thereto  by  an  affluent 
wave,  emptied  her  soup  upon  the  person  of  Mary 
Bernard. 

Among  the  Indians  who  come  or  are  brought  on 
board  is  a  young  female  barbarian,  une  petite  scmva- 
gesse,  a  candidate  for  baptism.  And  the  Sisters,  before 
they  quit  the  ship,  assist  at  that  sacrament.  The  cap- 
tain is  godfather,  and  endows  his  fJleuh  with  half  the 
trinkets  and  gay  old  clothing  in  the  ship  ;  and,  of 
course,  the  little  red-girl  is  called  Mary.  Then  there 
is  a  venerable  Chinook  who  sings  for  them  in  his  own 
tongue,  "  in  a  voice  by  no  means  disagreeable,"  the 
hymn  just  given   above ;    and  pointing  with   simple 


m  North  America.  263 

exultation  to  the  medal  of  tlie  Immaculate  Conception 
which  hangs  upon  his  swarthy  chest.  Then,  when  the 
Morning  Star  is  lodged  by  her  pilot  upon  a  sand-bar, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Wallamette,  "  Sister  Eenilda  and 
her  companions"  quit  her  deck  for  canoes,  and  pro- 
ceeding in  them  to  their  mission-house,  are  lost  to 
sight  of  ours. 

It  is  proper  to  say  here,  that  other  orders  than  that 
of  Sister  Eenilda  caU  themselves  of  Notre  Dame. 
Some  in  North  America  trace  their  origin  to  Lorraine, 
so  far  back  as  1565,  Blessed  Paul  Fourrier  being  their 
founder,  and  are  to  be  met  with  at  Milwaukee.'  Then 
Marguerite  Bourgeoys  and  her  sisters  are  a  kind  of 
colony  from  these.  This  is  the  extent  of  our  informa- 
tion regarding  the  Sceurs  de  Notre  Dame ;  and  it  is 
possible  that  some  of  our  statistics  may  not  be  always 
attributed  to  the  proper  society  of  these  three.  Should 
any  one  discover  this,  we  can  only  declare  that  such 
error  is  not  wilful.  They  are  aU,  at  least,  Sisters  of 
Our  Lady,  aU  children  of  one  Mother,  and  we  do  not 
intend,  by  this  present  writing,  to  assign  them  any 
immediate  credit  at  all.  We  wish  to  follow  their  ex- 
ample, and  to  assign  all  credit,  all  the  honor,  aU  the 
glory,  to  Jesus,  their  eternal  Spouse,  who  loved  them, 
and  who  bought  them  with  His  blood — to  Him,  and 
Hjs  Immaculate  sweet  Mother.     What  we  do  know  is 


•  "Les  Servantes  de  Dieu  en  Canada,  1853.  Essai  sur  I'liistoire  des 
communautes  religieuses  de  femmes  de  la  Province:"  par  C.  de 
Laroclie-Heron. 


264  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maby 

this,  that  certam  devout  women,  known  as  Sisters  of 
Notre  Dame,  are  daily  teaching  more  than  thirty  thou- 
sartd  American  children  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Saint 
Mary  the  Virgin. 


IN  NoKTH  Amekioa.  265 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

OuB  Lady  of  Meeot  and  of  Charity — Our  Lady's  loving  Friends  at 
JTHB  Cross — Oub  Lady  of  Christ's  pkeoious  Blood. 

The  History  of  Deyotion  to  Blessed  Mary  in  the 
Old  World,  and  even  of  that  in  elder  Canada,  seems 
rather  an  exhibition  of  effects,  the  sources  of  which 
are  easily  enough  divined ;  but,  in  our  careless,  anti- 
antiquarian,  and  recordless  state,  we  must  be  con- 
tented with  getting  at  such  causes  as  are  visible  to  us, 
and  from  those  deduce  the  inevitable  effects.  If  cer- 
tain rehgious  have  thirty  thousand  pupils,  and  are 
guided  in  their  lives  and  their  instruction  by  certain 
visible  principles,  it  will  require  no  wizard  to  guess  at 
the  result  of  the  education  which  they  give. 

Kenelm  Digby  writes  a  book  called  "  Compitum,  the 
Meeting  of  the  "Ways,"  to  show  that  all  roads  duly  fol- 
lowed lead  to  the .  Church.  It  is  true ;  and  so  is  the 
reverse  true.  All  ways  lead  out  of  the  Church  again 
over  the  suffering  world.  When  the  convent  doors 
open  in  the  morning,  it  is  that  one  Sister  may  go  to 
the  school-room,  another  to  the  hospital-ward,  another 
through  the  streets  to  the  houses  of  the  charitable, 
another  to  the  garrets  and  dismal  cellars,  to  the 
shrines  of  utterest  poverty,  to  inodorous  alleys,  where 

12 


266  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

poverty  and  filth  and  sin  have  supremacy.  Here,  a 
black-robe ;  there,  a  brown  one,  with  a  crimson  cross 
upon  the  bosom,  threads  the  city  paths.  On  one 
square  you  hear  young  voices  carolling  hymns  to 
Mary  from  the  windows  of  an  academy ;  on  the  next, 
you  see  the  white,  broad-leafed,  quaint  bonnet  of  the 
daughter  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul.  And  all  these  are 
travelling  in  a  circle;  they  come  from  the  hearts  of 
Jesus  and  of  Mary ;  they  are  to  go  back  thither  when 
their  earthly  work  is  done. 

One  family  of  these  precious  souls  is  known  by  the 
name  of  Sisters  of  Mercy.  Do  you  remember  Long- 
fellow's Evangeline  in  the  yellow-fever  hospital  for  the 
poor  in  Philadelphia  ?    Let  us  repeat  it : 

Only,  alas !  the  poor  who  had  neither  friends  nor  attendants, 
Crept  away  to  die  in  the  almshouse,  home  of  the  homeless. 
Then  in  the  suburbs  it  stood,  in  the  midst  of  meadows  and  wood- 
lands. 

Now  the  city  surrounds  it,  but  still  with  its  gateway  and  wicket, 
Meek,  in  the  midst  of  splendor,  its  humble  walls  seem  to  echo 
Softly  the  words  of  Our  Lord,  "  The  poor  ye  have  always  with  you." 
Thither  by  night  and  by  day  came  the  Sister  of  Mercy.    The  dying 
Looked  up  into  her  face  and  thought,  indeed,  to  behold  there 
Gleams  of  celestial  light  encircle  her  forehead  with  splendor, 
Such  as  the  artist  paints  o'er  the  brows  of  saiuts  and  apostles. 
Or  such  as  hangs  by  night  o'er  a  city  seen  from  a  distance. 
Unto  their  eyes  it  seemed  the  lamps  of  the  City  (Celestial, 
Into  whose  shining  gates,  ere  long,  their  spirits  should  enter.  • 

And  with  light  in  her  looks  she  entered  the  chamber  of  sickness 
Noiselessly  moving  among  the  assiduous  faithful  attendants. 
Moistening  the  feverish  lip  and  the  aching  brow ;  and  in  silence 
Closing  the  sightless  eyes  of  the  dead  and  concealing  their  faces, 
"Where  on  their  pallets  they  lay,  like  drifts  of  snow  by  the  wayside. 
Many  a  languid  head  upraised  as  the  Sister  entered. 


m  North  America.  267 

Turned  on  its  pillow  of  pain  to  gaze  while  she  passed ;  for  her  presence 
Fell  on  their  hearts  like  a  ray  of  the  sun  on  the  walls  of  a  prison, 
And  as  she  looked  around,  she  saw  how  Death  the  Cbnsoler. 
Laying  his  hand  upon  many  a  heart,  had  healed  it  forever.' 

Earlier  than  the  year  1830,  we  find  Sisters  of  Mercy 
in  Charleston  South  CaroKna,  helpers  to  Bishop  Eng- 
land in  his  apostoHc  work  down  there,  and  now  they 
are  elsewhere;  in  Cincinnati,  among  places  known 
to  us.  These  are  of  the  good  gifts  bestowed  by  Ire- 
land on  America,  and  are,  so  to  speak,  Children  of  the 
Order  of  the  Presentation  of  the  Ever  Virgin  Mary,  in 
that  ancient  and  Catholic  island.  Let  us  judge  of 
what  they  are  likely  to  do  in  advancing  the  devotion, 
by  what  we  can  know  of  their  daily  lives  and  rule. 
Given  fidehty  to  a  rule,  its  natural  effects  will  not  re- 
quire to  be  proved.  Now,  these  Sisters  of  Our  Lady 
of  Mercy  say  daily  the  Office  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
which  is  composed  of  thirty-seven  of  the  Psalms  of 
David ;  the  hymns  of  Simeon,  of  Blessed  Mary,  of  the 
three  youths  in  the  Assyrian  furnace,  of  Zacharias, 
prophet  of  God,  with  lessons  and  other  passages 
from  Holy  Scripture,  and  some  pious  ejaculations, 
prayers,  and  versified  hymns  for  the  seven  divisions 
of  the  day." 

'  Longfellow's  Poetical  Works.  Boston :  Ticknor  &  Fields.  18mo 
ed.,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  72,  73. 

"  It  is  almost  humiliating  to  even  an  ex-man-of-letters  to  be  obliged 
to  say  that  the  OflBce  is  not  the  Mass — to  repeat  again  that  the  Mass  is 
what  Protestants  would  call  the  Service  of  the  Holy  Communion,  and 
the  Office  is  the  Breviary — to  vsdt,  the  Psalms  of  David,  with  Scripture 
lessons  and  commentaries ;  short  biographies  or  notices  of  the  saint^ 


268  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

Then  another  rule  binds  the  good  sisters  "  to  inspire, 
as  much  as  in  them  lies,  the  childi-en  whom  thej  edu- 
cate with  a  sincere  devotion  to  the  passion  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  to  His  real  presence  in  the  Holy  Eucharist ;  to 
the  Immaculate  Mother  of  God,  and  to  their  Guardian 
Angels."  They  must  say  daily  in  their  schools  five 
decades  of  our  Lady's  Eosary  or  her  Litany  of  Loretto. 
Their  days  of  recreation  are  all  Mary's  days — the  long 
vacation  from  her  Feast  of  Mount  Carmel,  June  16,  to 
Monday  after  her  Assumption,  August  15 :  the  other 
days  are  Saturdays,  consecrated  by  the  Church  to  her, 
and  the  Feast  of  her  Presentation.  Then  their  rule 
bids  them  "bear  perpetually  in  mind  that  their  Con- 
gregation is  under  her  especial  protection,  and  that 
she  is,  under  God,  its  chief  Patroness  and  Protectress." 
Therefore  the  Sisters  "  must  have  the  warmest  devo- 
tion and  affection  to  her,  and  must  regard  her  in  an 


or  other  sacred  subject  of  the  day ;  collects  or  short  prayers,  from 
which  those  of  the  Anglican  and  American  Episcopal  churches  are 
translated,  and  a  few  hymns  and  pious  verses,  usually  from  Holy 
Writ.  But  when  such  a  man  as  Thomas  Carlyle,  the  pre-eminent 
"  sham"  hater,  who  writes,  in  correction  of  all  other  historians,  lus 
history  of  Frederick  the  Great,  and  half  of  whose  multitudinous  notes 
are  devoted  to  abuse  of  other  men's  ignorance;  when  he  gives  us 
Mass  in  the  afternoon,  and,  for  a  whole  page,  jumbles  up  this  Book  of 
Psalms  with  the  Communion  OflBce,  what  can  an  ex-man-of-letters  do 
but  notice  it  ?  Vide  History  of  Frederick  II.,  called  Frederick  the 
Great.  By  Thomas  Carlyle  ;  vol.  iii.,  p.  206.  New  York :  Harper  & 
Brothers. 

Mummery  as  much  as  you  please ;  nonsense  and  idolatry  as  much 
as  you  please ;  but  a  writer,  a  public  teacher  of  men,  is  bound  in 
simple  honor  to  know  something  about  the  daily  mummery  even  of 
two  himdred  millions  of  civilized  men. 


m  North  Ameeica.  269 

esi^ecial  manner  as  their  Mother,  and  the  great  model 
which  they  are  to  imitate."  They  are  to  have,  "  indi- 
viduall}-,  unhmited  confidence  in  her  ;  to  have  recourse 
to  her  in  all  their  difiiculties  and  spmtual  necessities, 
and  by  the  imitation  of  her  virtues  are  to  study  to 
please  her  and  to  merit  her  maternal  protection." 

They  shall,  moreover,  "  solemnize  her  festivals  with 
all  spiritual  joy  and  devotion,  and  shall  instil  in  the 
minds  of  the  children,  and  of  all  such  as  they  can  influence, 
the  greatest  respect,  veneration,  and  love  for  her." 
They  shall  "  say  the  beads  every  day  in  her  honor  ;" 
and  "  on  the  Feast  of  her  Presentation,  in  every  year, 
the  whole  community,  with  lighted  was  lights  in  their 
hands,  shall,  on  their  knees,  before  the  altar  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  make  the  following  act  of  oblation  and 
of  consecration  to  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God:"  ' 

"  The  Act  of  Eenewed  Conseceation. 

"  Most  holy  and  glorious  Virgin,  Mother  of  God,  we 
Sisters  of  the  CongTegation  of  Charitable  Injgtruction, 
convinced  how  much  we  stand  in  need  of  the  grace  of 
God  to  fulfil  the  arduous  duties  and  obligations  of  our 
pious  institute,  and  of  the  greatness  of  thy  power 
with  Jesus  Christ  thy  beloved  Son,  and  of  thy  good- 
ness towards  poor  Christians,  most  humbly  address 
ourselves  to  thee  this  day,  as  the  Mother  of  Mercy, 


'  Sketcli  of  tlie  Life  of  Miss  Nagle. 

Rule  of  the  Sisters  of  our  Lady  of  Mercy,  of  the  Presentation, 
Dublin. 


270  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

and  in  the  fullest  confidence  of  obtaining,  through  thy 
holy  intercession,  the  Divine  assistance. 

"  TVe,  therefore,  most  clement  Yirgin,  prostrate  be- 
fore thee  with  all  humility,  earnestly  beseech  thee  to 
be  most  graciously  pleased  to  accept  of  the  oblation 
we  all  irrevocably  make  on  this  holy  day  of  ourselves 
to  thy  love  and  service,  proposing  with  the  Divine  as- 
sistance to  bear  always  towards  thee  the  most  cordial 
respect  and  veneration,  and  to  engage,  as  far  as  in  our 
power,  all  others  to  love,  honor,  and  respect  thee. 
Deign,  O  most  pure  and  immaculate  Yii'gin,  Mother  of 
God,  to  receive  us  all,  and  every  one  of  us  in  partic- 
ular, under  thy  holy  protection.  TVe  look  up  to  thee 
as  our  Mother,  our  Lady,  and  our  Mistress,  as  our  Pa- 
troness and  Protectress,  Advocate  and  Directress, 
humbly  entreating  thee  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  all  our 
sins  and  transgressions  against  the  Divine  Majesty, 
and  of  all  our  negligences  in  thy  holy  service. 

"  We  beseech  thee  to  obtain  from  the  infinite  good- 
ness of  thy  beloved  Son,  that  this  little  Congregation 
of  Charitable  Instruction  may  always  be  favored  with 
thy  singular  assistance,  especially  in  the  arduous  func- 
tions of  the  institute  and  in  the  practice  of  every  reli- 
gious virtue.  In  fine,  we  most  earnestly  request  thou 
wilt  be  graciously  pleased  to  obtain  that  perfect  union 
of  hearts  and  minds  may  always  reign  amongst  us ; 
that  we  may  ever  be  faithful  to  the  observance  of  our 
rule,  and  persevere  to  the  end  of  our  lives  in  the  spirit 
and  grace  of  our  vocation,  that  having  with  fidehty 
served  thy  beloved  Son,  by  imitating  thy  virtues  on 


IN  North  A]\eerica.  271 

earth,  we  may,  with  thee  and  all  the  elect,  praise  and 
glorify  him  in  heaven  for  all  eternity.     Amen."  ' 

And  then  those  Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of  Charity — 
all  one  with  some  external  difference,  some  with 
schools,  some  without ;  some  with  quaint,  picturesque 
white  butterfly-winged  bonnets  and  antique-looped 
gowns ;  some  all  in  black  and  some  in  brown,  but  all 
alike  ;  Mere  Juchereau  in  1630,  Mother  Seton  two  cen- 
turies later ;  Gray  Sisters  (Soeurs  Grises)  or  Hospita- 
lieres,  or  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  or  of  the  Hotel  Dieu, 
or  sacred  inn,  whereof  our  Lord  is  the  host,  and  where 
the  penniless  are  guests  and  "have  wine  and  milk 
without  money  and  without  price  ;"  ^  or  Sisters  of 
Charity  in  New  York,  in  Boston,  in  New  Orleans,  in 
Cincinnati,  in  Minnesota,  in  Montreal,  they  are  all  one 
~ — all  are  children  of  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul ;  all  rejoice 
to  be  known  by  that  proud  title  which  he  bestowed 
upon  them,  "Daughters  of  Charity  and  Servants  of 
the  Poor." 

What  need  have  we  to  speak  of  them  ?  Let  the 
school,  the  hospital,  the  prison,  the  filthy  lodging- 
house,  the  orphan  asylum,  the  blood-stained  camp  talk 
about  them.  Why,  the  Protestant  and  the  Pagan; 
the  roughest  among  men,  the  "  lost,  lost,  lost"  among 
women,  know  the  .Sister  of  Charity,  and  find  some- 
where amid  the  ruins  of  their  souls  an  untainted  bless- 
ing for  her  as  she  passes. 


'  Rules  and  Constitutions,  etc.     Dublin,  1809. 

^  "  Qui  non   habetis  argent um,  properate  :    venite,  emite  absque 
argento  et  absque  ulla  commutatione,  vinum  et  lac." — Isaias,  Iv.  1. 


272  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

In  Quebec,  in  1637,  more  tlian  two  hundred  years 
ago,  they  wanted  a  school  and  a  hospital,  and  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  furnished  both.  Montreal,  Mary's 
city,  felt  the  need,  and  we  have  seen  how  Mademoi- 
selle Manse  provided.  In  the  States,  Mother  Seton 
founds  her  adaptation  of  the  great  order,  and  now  the 
Sister  of  Charity  is  everywhere.  Here,  there  is  the 
Sister  of  Providence ;  there,  the  "  little  Sister  of  the 
Poor ;"  everywhere  the  faithful  child  and  humble  im- 
itator of  Holy  Mary.  Mother  Seton's  first  convent  is 
a  tenement  of  four  rooms ;  one  floor  and  one  garret 
must  lodge  sixteen  persons.  But  she  has  the  "  chapel 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin"  *  wherein  to  receive  the  Bread 
of  Life ;  it  is  Saint  Mary's  Mountain  which  is  their 
hoped-for  laboring-place,  that  Saint  Mary's  to^vn,  now 
Baltimore  ;  and  they  can  give  their  own  fond  phase  of 
signification  to  Maryland. 

Here  were  Dubois,  afterwards  Bishop  of  New 
York,  and  saintly  Brute,  their  wise  guides,  the  second, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Yincennes.  He  it  was  who  had 
"no  time  at  home  to  get  his  hair  cut,"'  and  so  catch- 
ing the  barber  one  day  in  the  woods,  he  sat  down 
upon  a  stone  and  was  newly  tonsured  there.  It  was 
he,  too,  whom  students  of  St.  Mary's,  known  to  the 
present  writer,  used  to  see  laboring  with  his  own 
hands  to  make  more  easy  a  steep  up-mountain  path 


'  Life  of  Mrs.  E.  Seton,  Founder  and  First  Superior  of  the  Daughters 
of  Charity  in  the  United  States.    B7  Rev.  Dr.  White,  p.  235. 
«  The  same,  p.  386. 


IN  NoETH  America.  273 

wliicli  led  to  his  grotto  oratory  and  tlie  statute  of  the 
Mother  of  God.  Ah !  they  were  very  poor  in  money 
and  influence  in  those  early  days,  but  rich  in  graces^ 
in  humility,  in  love  of  labor,  and  in  sweet  contented- 
ness.  They  have  lives  of  roughness  and  great  labor, 
but  God  gives  them  encoui'agement.  They  have  sick- 
ness and  pain  like  others,  but  He  sends  them  pleasant 
thoughts.  They  die,  some  years  too  early,  we  may 
fancy,  but  so  "  He  giveth  His  beloved  sleep." ' 

What  sick  Sister  was  it  on  whose  heart  whUe  she 
slept.  Mother  Seton  placed  a  rose  just  given  her?  "We 
do  not  know,  shall  never  know  her  name  ;  nor  is  it  in 
any  point  essential  to  us  or  her  that  we  should.  But 
as  she  lurote  her  simple  thanks  for  it,  we  may  look 
here  at  the  form  of  words  it  took." 

The  morning  was  beautiful,  mild,  and  serene, 

All  nature  had  waked  from  repose ; 
Maternal  affection  came  silently  in, 

And  placed  on  my  bosom  a  rose. 

Poor  nature  was  weak,  and  had  almost  prevailed 

The  long-wearied  eyelids  to  close ; 
But  the  soul  waked  in  triumph  and  joyously  hailed 

The  sweet  Queen  of  Flowers,  the  Rose. 

Whitsuntide  was  the  time,  'twas  the  season  of  love. 

And  I  thought  that  the  Blest  Spirit  chose 
To  leave  for  a  while  the  sweet  form  of  the  Dove, 
And  come  in  the  blush  of  the  Rose. 

Come,  Heavenly  Spirit,  descend  on  each  breast, 
And  there  let  thy  blessings  repose, 

'  Psalm  cxxvi.  2  :  "  Dederit  dilectis  suis  somnum." 
«  White's  Life,  p.  494. 
T  12* 


274  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

As  thou  once  didst  on  Mary,  the  temple  of  rest, 
For  Mary's  our  Mystical  Rose. 

Oh  may  every  rose  that  springs  forth  evermore, 

Enkindle  the  hearts  of  all  those 
Who  wear  it  or  see  it  to  bless  and  adore 

The  Hand  that  created  the  rose. 

Let  US  guess  how  Mother  Seton  would  move  young 
hearts  to  the  love  of  the  Blessed  among  women,  by 
what  we  see  of  her  own  child,  her  Kebecca.  Just  a 
glimpse  into  that  well-tried  life  of  hers  ;  a  moment's 
raising  of  the  curtain  to  expose  the  mother's  pain,  and 
one  glance  into  the  heart  of  the  child.  The  record  of 
the  Httle  girl's  long-suffering  is  most  pitiable ;  the 
record  of  her  patience  is  most  beautiful,  as  she  lies 
there  white  and  still,  suffering  heroically,  and  not 
"wishing  her  sufferings  shortened;"  her  large  eyes 
never  quitting  the  crucifix  except  to  turn  upon  the 
poor  mother  beside  her,  the  mother  strugghng  for 
resignation  while  the  pangs  of  her  offspring  were  tear- 
ing at  her  own  heartstrings ;  and  trying  to  unite  her 
pain  with  the  pain  of  Her  who  stood  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross,  the  Mother  of  Jesus."  *  By  and  by  the  innocent 
head  sinks  down  upon  the  mother's  bosom  ;  there  is  a 
struggle  and  a  final  sigh ;  and  then,  He  that  carrieth 
the  young  lambs  in  his  bosom,*  "  suffereth  that  Httle 
one  to  come  to  Him." 

That  ended,  Mother  Seton  lays  the  untenanted  body 

'  "  Stabat  autem  juxta  Crucem  Jesu,  Mater  ejus." — Saint  Jolm's 
<Jospel,  six.  25. 

*  Isaias,  xl.  11 ;  Saint  Mark's  Gospel,  x.  14. 


IN  North  America.  275 

from  her  arms  with  a  low  murmured,  "Oh,  my  dar- 
ling !"  then  says  to  the  attendant  Sister,  "  My  chains 
are  broken,"  and  to  her  God  she  says,  lifting  her  eyes 
and  arms,  "  My  Lord,  my  darling  is  with  Thee  !  She 
will  nevermore  risk  to  offend  Thee  :  and  to  Thee  I 
give  her  up  with  all  my  soul."  Now,  this  was  the 
child's  prayer  or  act  of  consecration.  She  and  two  of 
her  companions  had  given  themselves  early  to  Blessed 
Mary  in  this  form  of  their  own  composition  : 

"  Oh,  our  Blessed  Mother !  we  consecrate  our  poor 
little  hearts  to  you.  Receive  our  offering.  From  this 
day  we  will  begin,  and  with  your  dear  assistance  will 
continue  to  try  our  very  best  to  love  and  serve  you 
faithfully.  Oh,  our  dear,  dearest  Mother,  intercede  for 
your  poor  little  children  before  the  throne  of  your 
Divine  Son,  for  He  will  not  deny  you,  His  dear  Moth- 
er, any  thing ;  and  therefore  we  beg  you  to  obtain  for 
us  the  vu'tue  of  purity  of  heart,  which  is  so  very  pleas- 
ing to  you  and  your  Divine  Son,  and  that  of  modesty 
and  love.  But  above  all,  oh,  our  Blessed  Mother,  ob- 
tain for  us  a  happy  death,  that  we  may  reign  forever 
in  the  blessed  mansions  of  peace  and  rest  which  is  our 
true  country  and  home.     Amen."  * 

It  is  only  the  act  of  three  little  American  school- 
girls, some  fifty  years  ago ;  but  ex  ore  infantium  et  lac- 
tenfium  perfecisti  laudem — "  Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes 
and  sucklings  Thou  hast  perfected  praise ;" '  and  Mary 


1  "  WMte's  Life  of  Mrs.  Seton,"  Appendix,  p.  498. 
'  Psalm,  viii.  3. 


276  Devotion  to  B.  Y.  Maet 

seems  to  have  heard  them,  for  tliey  all  died  in  child- 
hood. 

One  of  these  very  first  of  Mother  Seton's  commu- 
nity surviyes  (1863),  the  venerable  Mother  Margaret 
George,  fifty-one  years  a  "Daughter  of  Charity  and 
Servant  of  the  Poor."  If  you  would  see  her  and  ask 
her  prayers,  you  will  find  her  in  the  midst  of  the 
orphans,  at  the  asylum  in  Cumminsville,  Cincinnati. 
Of  other  Sisters  of  Charity,  and  of  these,  a  fact  or  two 
will  illustrate  our  attempt  at  a  history  of  devotion. 
One  single  community,  that  of  Emmittsburg,  has 
twenty-two  asylums,  for  orphans,  for  the  insane,  for 
incurables ;  eleven  hospitals,  and  twenty -five  schools. 
In  the  city  of  New  York  alone,  Sisters  of  various 
orders  teach  at  least  six  thousand  pupils. 

In  Canada,  eight  hundred  rehgious  women,  ten 
years  ago,  were  teaching  eleven  thousand  children, 
guarding  a  thousand  orphans,  nursing  five  thousand 
sick,*  and  teaching,  by  precept  or  example,  devotion  to 
the  Blessed  Yirgin  to  every  one  of  tKese.  If  we  had 
any  records  here,  we  might  be  able  to  apportion  to 
each  order  in  the  United  States  its  due  number  of 
pupils  ;  but,  as  yet,  system  is  wanting. 

Just  take  your  atlas  for  awhUe,  and  see  those  Gray 
Sisters,  the  first  we  ever  saw  in  North  America ;'  see 
them  to-day,  more  than  two  centuries  later,  toiling  in 
the  half-tropical  heats  of  the  South,  or  braving,  for  the 
love  of  God  and  Mary,  the  boreal  wind  careering  over 

'  Servantes  de  Dieu  en  Canada  '  Vide  this  Tvork,  p.  40. 


IN  NoRi-H  America.  277 

the  semi-frozen  floods  of  Hudson's  Bav,  or  tlie  almost 
perj^etual  snows  that  lie  around  far  Athabasca  Lake, 
in  north  latitude  60^.  Look  at  the  Daughters  of  the 
Cross,  sailing  in  1855  from  Treguier,  in  France,  to 
Avoyelles,  in  Louisiana — Mary  Hyacinthe,  superior  of 
the  first  colony  ;  Mary  Agatha,  of  the  second,  in  1856. 
It  is  this  last  colony  which,  when  their  ship  takes  fire 
far  out  at  sea,  assemble  in  their  cabin  and  chant  the 
Salve  -Regina — "Hail,  Queen;  haU,  Mother  of  Mercy^ 
our  life,  our  sweetness,  and  our  hope."  These  also  re- 
cite each  day  the  Little  Office  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

Then,  when  Kentucky  was  a  wilderness,  almost,  in 
1812,  and  holy  Father  Nerinckx  labored  as  missionary 
there,  he  called  into  existence,  to  aid  the  cause  of  God 
and  Our  Lady,  the  "  Sisters  of  Loretto,  or  Friends  of 
Mary  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross ;"  their  object,  first,  their 
own  perfection,  and  then  the  education  of  girls,  espe- 
cially of  the  very  poor.  He  calls  their  house  on  Har- 
din's Creek,  Loretto,  the  house  whereof  Our  Lady  was 
the  mistress  on  earth ;  within  whose  walls  Our  Lord 
became  incarnate.  St.  Mary's  poverty  was  to  be  their 
model  of  hfe.  Their  houses  are  therefore  poor  and 
badly  frirnished,  their  food  is  of  the  plainest  kind,  and 
their  raiment  of  the  coarsest.  Hard  labor  in  the  fields 
and  forests  was  to  be  their  earthly  luxury,  and  their 
lives  penitential — barefooted  most  of  the  year,  for  one 
item.'      "Poor    to   extremity,   but   ah,"   says    saintly 

'  Sketches  of  the  Early  Catholic  Missions  in  Kentucky.  By  Rt 
Eev.  M.  J.  Spalding,  Bishop  of  Louisville ;  pp.  206-213. 


278  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

Bisliop  Flaget,  "sucli  spotless  cleanliness!'"  Now, 
they  Lave  at  least  ten  establishments  in  Kentucky, 
Missouri,  Arkansas,  out  among  the  Osage  Indians. 
There  are  two  hundred  Sisters  now,  and  every  house 
has  schools.  And  then,  these  "Friends  of  Mary  at 
the  Cross"  meet  in  their  darkened  chapel  when  three 
o'clock  comes  round  each  day,  for  a  long  meditation 
on,  and  commemoration  of.  Our  Lord's  drear  Passion ; 
and  while  the  bell  tolls  mournfully  they  murmur  at 
stated  intervals,  "O  suffering  Jesus!  0  sorrowful 
Mary!'" 

Then,  close  by  the  side  of  these  good  rehgious,  and 
educating  more  children  to  love  and  reverence  St. 
Mary,  are  the  Dominicans;  and  St.  Dominic,  you 
know,  is  the  Father  of  the  Eosary.  Not  of  that  man- 
ner of  prayer,  but  only  of  that  manner  brought  to  per- 
fection of  practice;  for  the  use  of  beads  in  prayer 
sweeps  far  back  beyond  the  Incarnation  of  Our  Divine 
Redeemer,  and  is  common  to  all  Oriental  nations, 
Pagan,  Hebrew,  Mahommedan,  and  Christian.  Now, 
the  first  two  women  of  this  order  in  the  present  States, 
so  far  as  we  can  find  out,  were  in  Kentucky,  and  were 
both  called  Mary.  They  were  here  m  1807  or  1808. 
Then  they  were  at  St.  Mary's,  Somerset,  Ohio,  in  1819 ; 
and  they  have  houses  in  ZanesviUe  in  that  last-named 


I  Sketches  of  the  Life,  Times,  and  Character  of  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict 
Joseph  Flaget,  first  Bishop  of  Louisville.  By  Rt.  Rev.  M.  J.  SpaJ 
ding ;  p.  290. 

■'  Letter  of  Rt,  Rev.  Dr.  Spalding,  Oct.  3, 1861 


IN  North  Amekica.  279 

State,  and  in  Benicia  in  California,  in  Memphis  and 
JSTasliville,  Tennessee,  and  in  Brooklyn,  Long  Island. 

Their  first  convent  was  called  St.  Eose ;  their 
second,  St.  Magdalene,  now  called  St.  Catherine's.  I 
only  know  thera  to  be  in  a  most  especial  manner  de- 
voted to  the  Blessed  Yii'gin ;  to  be  zealous  in  impart- 
ing that  love  to  others.  They  educate  a  couple  of 
hundred  pupils  at  least  each  year;  and  in  the  same 
State  of  Kentucky  the  Sisters  of  Charity  at  Nazareth 
teach  between  four  and  five  hundred. 

Our  road  for  the  rest  of  this  chapter  must  be  a  very 
undetermined  one.  Perforce  a  vagabond,  we  wander 
from  mountain  to  prairie,  from  forest  to  sacred  sea- 
side, picking  up  here  a  woodland  flower,  there  a  peb- 
ble ;  sometimes  getting  a  mere  glance  at  some  bright 
object,  and  utterly  unable,  for  thicket,  surf,  or  quick- 
sand, to  come  any  nearer.  What  we  shall  get  into  our 
basket,  however,  be  it  agate  or  patch  of  moss,  we  lay 
on  Our  Lady's  altar,  persuaded  of  this  at  least,  that 
she  will  have  no  contempt  for  it. 

The  Sisters  of  Providence,  in  Oregon,  in  Canada,  in 
Vermont,  those  who  received  at  Grosse  lie  the  thou- 
sand of  ship-fever  patients  in  1848;  these  educate 
some  himdred  and  fifty  girls  who  pay,  and  some  nine 
hundred  who  are  too  poor  for  that.  The  "  Sisters  of 
the  Holy  Names  of  Jesus  and  Mary"  all  bear  the 
name  of  Mary,  and  teach  a  thousand  pupils.  The 
Sisters  of  the  Presentation  at  St.  Hyacinth ;  the  Sisters 
of  St.  Joseph  ;  the  Daughters  of  St.  Anne  ;  how  many 
do  they  teach  to  honor  Mary  ?     God  knows,  and  God 


280  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

rewards.  Everywliere,  to  him  wlio  has  eyes  and  who 
looks  out  of  them,  there  is  observable  some  new  par- 
terre from  the  Church's  perpetual  fertihty.'  On  the 
day  which  sees  these  hnes  written,  we  read  in  the 
Freeman's  Journal  of  New  York  these  facts:  How,  in 
the  year  of  grace  1844,  a  small  community  of  nuns  en- 
tered the  diocese  of  Cincinnati,  having  the  title  of 
"  The  Most  Precious  Blood,"  whose  principal  office 
consists  in  the  nocturnal  adoration  of  the  Most  Blessed 
Sacrament  of  the  Altar,  together  with  other  duties 
common  to  most  convents,  and  some  peculiar  to  them- 
selves. 

The  founder  of  the  Arch-confraternity  of  Priests  of 
the  Most  Precious  Blood  was  the  Canon  Gaspar  di 
Bufalo,  who  was  bom  at  Kome,  A.  d.  1786.  Another 
true  benefactor  of  America  he,  issuing  like  so  many 
others  from  the  red  fange  of  that  French  Kevolution. 

Chiefly  through  his  exertions  the  Arch-confraternity 
of  the  Most  Precious  Blood  was  organized,  in  1815,  at 
Kome.  So  rapid  was  its  progress,  that  fifteen  years 
later,  in  1830,  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  lesser 
confraternities  were  abeady  affiliated  with  it,  not  only 
in  Europe,  but  in  Africa,  India,  and  China.  It  was  not 
until  some  years  later  that  the  first  body  of  these  holy 
missionaries  directed  their  steps  towards  America. 
The  Eev.  M.  Sales  Brunner,  with  eight  missionary 
priests  and  six  novices,  sailed  in  'ISliS  for  New  York, 
and  upon   the    invitation   of    the    Most   Kev.    Arch- 

« 

*  See  M.  de  Courcy*s  **  Servantes  de  Dieu,"  passim. 


IN  NoETH  America.  281 

bishop,  established  themselves  in  the  diocese  of  Cin- 
cinnati. 

During  a  pious  pilgrimage  at  Rome,  in  the  year 
1832,  Madame  Anna  Maria  Brunner,  mother  of  the 
reverend  gentleman  mentioned  above,  uniting  herseK 
with  the  greatest  fervor  in  all  the  objects  of  the  saintly 
Canon  di  Bufalo,  became  a  member  of  his  Arch-con- 
fraternity, and  on  returning  to  her  native  land,  re- 
solved to  consecrate  the  remainder  of  her  days  to  the 
adoration  of  the  Most  Precious  Blood  of  Jesus,  in  the 
Holy  Sacrament  of  the  altar.  The  better  to  withdraw 
from  distractions  which  might  tend  to  interrupt  her 
devotions,  she  retired  to  the  soHtary  castle  of  Lowen- 
berg,  in  the  Grisons  (Switzerland),  where,  in  the  course 
of  the  following  year,  she  was  joined  by  twelve  devout 
young  women  from  Alsace  and  Baden,  who  placed 
themselves  under  her  dii'ection,  and  for  whom  she 
prepared  a  rule,  by  which  they  led  a  regular  rehgious 
life  in  the  observance  of  nocturnal  adoration. 

The  night  was  subdivided,  and  each  member  passed 
two  hours  before  the  altar.  Every  day,  at  the  close  of 
the  morning  prayers  and  before  the  celebration  of  the 
Holy  Mass,  the  sentences  enjoined  by  Arch-confrater- 
nity were  repeated  by  each  member  of  the  community, 
in  an  audible  voice  ;  and  during  the  celebration  of  the 
Mass,  they  recited  together  the  litany  of  the  Most 
Precious  Blood.  The  day  was  employed  in  manual 
labor,  always  accompanied  by  prayers  or  meditation, 
in  the  house  or  garden,  or  in  the  fields  ;  for  they  were 
poor,  and  could  command  no  other  means  of  subsist- 


282  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

ence,  either  for  tliemselves  or  for  tlie  indigent  female 
orphans  whom  they  sustained  in  their  convent.  The 
blessing  of  God  gave  the  fruits  of  their  toil ;  and  trust- 
ing to  the  results  of  their  prayers  and  industry,  and 
the  powerful  intercession  of  the  Blessed  Mother  of 
God,  they,  after  a  little  time,  charged  themselves  with 
the  expense  of  educating  for  the  holy  priesthood  seven 
young  missionaries,  who  were  afterwards  attached  to 
the  zealous  band  who  (as  we  have  related)  entered 
the  diocese  of  Cincinnati,  A.  d.  1843. 

A  year  after  the  arrival  of  the  missionary  priests, 
the  Most  Eev.  Archbishop  of  Cincinnati  extended 
an  invitation  also  to  the  community  at  Lowenberg 
to  estabhsh  themselves  in  his  diocese,  which  was  ac- 
cepted. The  simple  story  of  the  travels  hitherward, 
by  land  and  sea,  of  these  angelic  women,  as  given  in 
letters  to  their  friends,  is  most  touching.  Our  limits 
confine  us  to  a  few  brief  extracts  from  this  interest- 
ing coiTespondence.  After  a  tearful  parting  with  the 
beloved  ones  at  Lowenberg,  whose  faces  they  should 
see  no  more  on  earth,  they  went  first  to  prostrate 
themselves  at  the  feet  of  our  Lady  of  Einsiedeln,  to 
implore  her  blessing  on  their  great  undertaking,  and 
to  place  it  under  her  direction.  Kefreshed  and  full  of 
consolation,  they  now  directed  their  steps  towards  the 
great  Western  ocean,  which  they  must  traverse  in 
order  to  reach  their  goal  in  the  midst  of  the  vast  con- 
tinent beyond  it,  yet  no  fear  or  danger  agitated  their 
strong  and  faithful  hearts. 

"  Truly,"  writes  one  of  them,  "  this  great  journey 


m  NoETH  America.  283 

might  well  liave  frightened  us,  but  when  we  remem- 
bered that  the  Son  of  God  had  freely  poured  out  the 
last  drop  of  his  most  precious  blood  for  us,  we  said 
one  to  another,  *  If  in  America  we  can  prevent  even 
one  mortal  sin,  the  fatigues  we  now  undergo  will  be 
richly  repaid ;  and  should  we  find  nothing  else  to  do, 
we  can  teach  our  CathoKcs  to  say  the  Eosary  of  the 
Most  Precious  Blood,  and  we  can  seek  out  some  poor 
oi-phans  who  have  need  of  our  care,  and  then  we  shall 
be  content.  But  even  if  we  find  nothing  to  do,  we 
know  well  that  our  dear  Lord  will  accept  our  good 
intentions  to  honor  His  great  sacrifice ;  for,  sweet 
Mother,  have  we  not  laid  our  undertaking,  and  all  that 
may  result  from  it,  at  thy  feet  ?  When  we  accepted 
this  mission  to  America,  did  we  not  place  om^selves 
under  thy  blessed  patronage  as  servants  of  Mary  ?'  " 

Thus  rejoicing  on  their  way,  these  humble  daughters 
of  our  Blessed  Lady  reached  America. 

"Within  a  few  days,  more  than  forty  CathoHc  maidens 
were  received  for  catechetical  instructions  by  the  Sis- 
ters, who  lost  not  a  moment  in  resuming  their  religious 
life  in  its  original  order,  both  in  the  nocturnal  adora- 
tion of  the  Most  Blessed  Sacrament  and  in  the  daily 
manual  labor,  commingled,  as  before,  with  constant 
prayer  and  meditation,  and  the  oflfices  of  the  chapel. 
Their  first  Mass  was  offered  on  the  midnight  eve  of 
Christmas,  and  they  commemorated  this  happy  event 
by  naming  their  chapel  Maria  zur  Krippe — AngUce, 
Mary  of  the  Manger. 

The  community  increased  rapidly  by  the  accession 


284  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

of  many  young  women  from  Europe,  wlio  desired  to 
participate  in  their  holy  Hfe  of  seclusion,  which  is  at 
the  same  time  so  full  of  usefulness ;  and  fi'om  time  to 
time  American  gMs  presented  themselves  for  admis- 
sion, so  that  within  five  years  after  their  arrival  the 
number  of  the  Sisterhood  had  reached  one  hundred 
and  fifty-four.  At  this  time  (1862)  their  catalogue  re- 
cords the  names  of  more  than  four  hundred,  some  of 
whom  have  abeady  entered  upon  their  rest. 

Ten  convents  of  then*  order  are  distributed  over  a 
region  of  some  five  and  twenty  miles  or  more  in  length, 
and  of  unequal  breadth.  They  are  usually  seated  in 
the  midst  of  fertile  fields  of  corn,  and  surrounded  by 
orchards,  vegetable  gardens,  and  vineyards,  which  pre- 
sent the  most  striking  contrasts  to  the  surrounding 
wilderness  of  woods,  which  extends  in  all  directions 
further  than  the  eye  can  reach.  It  is  a  pleasing  spec- 
tacle to  the  traveller,  as  he  pursues  his  solitary  path 
along  the  rude  highways  that  perforate  the  vast  forests 
of  this  district,  when,  above  the  unbroken  line  of  lofty 
trees,  he  descries,  first,  a  symmetrical  steeple  ;  a  little 
further  on,  he  is  almost  startled  by  a  sudden  opening, 
which  discloses  an  apparition  of  wide  fields,  from  near 
the  centre  of  which  rises  a  cluster  of  substantial  edi- 
fices of  various  kinds.  The  church,  no  longer  a  rude 
structure  of  logs,  has  now  become  a  spacious,  weU- 
proportioned,  and  solid  pile  of  brick  and  stone. 

Here  Father  Brunner  began  to  preach  on  Devotion 
to  Our  Lady,  and  on  the  nearly  unknown  devotion  of 
her  Bosary.     In  the  Society,  when  the  sun  is  setting, 


IN  North  Aj^ieeica.  285 

they  say  the  Eosaiy,  tlie  Litany  of  the  Blessed  Yirgin, 
and  have,  by  special  privilege,  the  Benediction  of  the 
Most  Holy  Sacrament.  Then,  at  night  prayers,  again 
the  Eosary ;  and,  in  the  silence  of  the  midnight,  each 
sister,  during  her  two  hours  of  adoration,  recites  it 
thrice.  Oh,  think  of  that.  How  often  from  these  holy 
women  goes  up  that  beautiful  supplication  for  us  all, 
while  the  beads  drop  noislessly,  one  by  one,  through 
the  weariless  fingers,  and  the  hush  of  the  solemn 
hours  is  scarce  broken  by  the  murmur  of  "  Holy  Mary, 
Mother  of  God,  pray  for  us  sinners  now  and  at  the 
hour  of  our  death!"  Tou  can  hear  the  Brothers  and 
the  Sisters  at  their  daily  labor,  break  into  praises  of 
Saint  Mary  ;  and  if  they  rest  from  their  toil,  it  is  only, 
with  many  of  them,  that  they  may  tell  their  beads.  If 
any  thing  is  greatly  needed,  if  epidemics  threaten,  if 
temporal  or  spiritual  loss  seem  to  impend,  a  devotion 
to  the  gentle  Mother  is  commanded,  and  they  say  that 
they  always  obtain  their  requests.' 

So  that  you  do  not  wonder  to  hear  that,  all  through 
the  surrounding  country,  the  text-book  in  each  family 
is  Saint  Alphonsus  Liguori's  "  Glories  of  Mary,"  and 
that  the  Chaplet  is  their  daily  devotion ;  that  the 
chapels  are  crowded  every  evening ;  that  in  the  bitter 
winter  you  can  see  Hnes  of  lanterns,  glimmering 
through  the  dark  of  the  early  morning,  as  the  faithful 
pick  their  way,  through  the  most  detestable  of  roads. 


'  Letters  of  Eev.  Joseph  Dwenger,  Priest  C.PP.S.,  September  14  and 
August  24,  1861. 


286  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

to  the  break-of-day  Mass  and  first  Rosarj.  All  are 
enrolled  in  one  or  more  Confraternities  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin — that  of  the  "  Sacred  Heart  of  Mary,  for  the 
Conversion  of  Sinners,"  or  that  of  the  "  Scapular,"  or 
of  the  "  Living  Rosary,"  or  of  "  Our  Lady's  Seven  Sor- 
rows," or  of  the  "  Immaculate  Conception,"  or  in  the 
"  Sodality  of  the  Blessed  Yirgin."  "  Our  people,"  says 
a  devoted  priest  of  that  region,  "  would  almost  think  it 
a  mortal  sin  to  omit  the  Rosary  on  Sundays  or  on 
Festivals."  Every  few  miles  a  new  brick  church,  or 
convent,  or  pious  school,  gleams  through  the  openings 
of  the  woods;  and  the  venerable  Archbishop  Purcell 
calls  the  place  the  "  Thebais  of  Ohio."  It  is,  too,  the 
"Blessed  Virgin's  land,"  and  the  whole  district  re- 
sounds with  Saint  Bernard's  cry,  0  chmens,  0  pia,  0 
dulcis  Virgo  Maria!  0  piteous,  0  gentle,  0  sweet 
Virgin  Mary ! 


IN  North  Ameeica.  287 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

OcE  Lady  of  Saint  Ubsula  and  Saint  Angela. 

As  early  as  the  year  1700,  the  nuns  of  Our  Lady  of 
La  Trappe  were  at  work  amid  the  ice  of  New  Scot- 
land.' By  1790  the  nuns  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Car- 
mel,  home  of  the  Scapular,  were  laboring  in  Maryland. 
When  you  get  to  Cincinnati,  in  these  days,  and  debark 
from  the  railway  train,  perhaps  you  may  want  to  go  to 
the  cathedral.  Get,  then,  into  one  of  those  "  street- 
cars," and  ride  up  into  the  town.  After  a  square  or 
two  has  been  passed,  a  woman  gets  in,  probably  ac- 
companied by  a  child.  Young  looking,  but  how 
young  you  cannot  nearly  guess :  the  infinite  peace  of 
God  seems  to  settle  on  such  faces,  so  as  to  destroy  the 
marks  of  Time's  advance.  Whether  she  be  twenty  or 
forty  is  not  particularly  evident.  But  you  remark  her. 
There  is  a  look  of  singular  sweetness  and  patience  on 
the  face,  which  gives  refinement;  or  it  may  be  that 
that  is  there  naturally — ^you  don't  know;  she  may 
have  been  born  a  countess,  for  there  are  such  amonsf 
them.  There  is  a  bonnet,  not  very  pecuHar,  but  such 
as  nobody  in  good  society  would  like  to  wear,  at  least ; 
there  is  a  black  cloak — a  very  poor  woman's  cloak ; 


'  Vie  de  Margnerite  Bourgeoys,  ii.  470. 


288  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

there  is  a  coarse  brown  robe,  and  on  the  bosom  of 
that,  the  crest  and  arms  of  her  nobility,  is  a  crimson 
cross.  That  is  a  Franciscan  Hospital  Sister,  out  beg- 
ging from  door  to  door,  for  food,  clothes,  money,  any 
thing  that  good  people  choose  to  give  for  the  sup- 
port of  a  hospital  where  any  who  are  poor  may 
enter,  "  without  distinction  of  sex,  age,  country,  or  re- 
ligion." 

There  are  only  two  doubts  to  be  settled  :  is  the  ap- 
plicant in  downright  need  ?  and,  is  there  a  bed  empty  ? 
These  decided,  they  take  the  patient  in,  and  set  to 
work  to  support  and  nurse  him  or  her  for  the  love  of 
the  dear  God  who  died  for  us  all.  That  is  the  way 
these  new  crusaders,  these  red-cross  sisters,  do  at  the 
Hospital  of  Mary's  Help.  They  were  added  to  our 
holy  Archbishop's  causes  of  gTatitude  to  God,  some 
three  or  four  years  ago,  invisible  for  awhile — violets 
in  the  winter ;  by  and  by,  when  the  spring  came,  a 
couple  of  years  later,  blooming  out  modestly,  two  days 
after  their  arrival,  begging  from  door  to  door  in  the 
strange,  uncultivated,  but  not  unkindly  town.  And 
then,  as  reward  for  their  energy,  God  sent  them,  in  the 
first  week,  some  dozen  of  pauper  patients,  in  a  few 
weeks  forty,  and  then  they  knew  that  His  blessing  was 
with  them.  Swift  then  as  weeds,  but  pure  and  sacred 
as  tall  lilies,  sprang  up  their  convent  and  then-  hos- 
pital of  "Mary's  Help."  In  1860,  two  hundred  and 
seventy  patients  had  been  nursed ;  the  next  year,  Jive 
hundred  and  eighteen,  and,  among  those,  thirty,  worn 
out  with  age,  for  life ;  and  all  supjDorted,  and  all  ex- 


IN  North  America.  289 

penses  paid,  by  tlie  daily  asking  of  alms  from  door  to 
door. 

Ah,  blessed  women,  daughters  of  Cliarity  and  Mercy, 
servants  of  the  poor,  spouses  of  Jesus,  sisters  of  Bless- 
ed Mary,  vestals  who  ward  off  the  wi-ath  of  Justice,' 
pure  types  of  consecrate  womanhood,  ye  are  called  by 
many  names,  ye  live  by  the  pulse  of  one  Heart.  Other 
creeds  have  striven  to  imitate  you,  and  have  gotten 
exotic  and  bereaved  plants,  and  these  have  found  no 
nourishment  in  those  stranger  lands,  by  stranger 
waters.  But  the  Cathohc  sister  is  a  strong  and  glori- 
ous tree,  whose  sap  is  the  Blood  of  the  Lord,  whose 
roots  are  planted  in  the  Paradise  on  high.  Think  how 
those  sisters  move  about  the  noisome  streets  of  pover- 
ty and  dark  infectious  lanes,  quietly,  as  by  stealth, 
stealing  through  the  shadows,  uncovetous  of  man's  ap- 
probation. Gentle,  modest  flowers  of  holiness  ;  the 
fragrance  of  whose  mercy  and  prayerfulness,  and  love 
for  God  and  man,  hke  the  scent  of  the  Alpine  rhodo- 
dendron, escapes  the  perception  of  man,  and  floats 
straightway  upwards  to  the  Throne. 

One  day,  too,  shall  they  all  be  gathered  there,  and 
out  from  the  hps  of  Him  who  died  for  us,  of  the  King 
and  Judge,  these  words  shall  flow  :  "  My  sisters,  I  was 
an  hungered  and  ye  gave  Me  meat,  I  was  thirsty  and 
ye  gave  Me  drink,  I  was  naked  and  ye  clothed  Me,  sick 
and  ye  ministered  unto  Me,  in  prison  and  ye  visited  Me. 


*  In  pagan  Rome,  the  passing  by  of  a  Vestal  Virgin  conveyed  par 
don  to  criminals  doomed  to  death, 
u  13 


290  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

For  inasmucli  as  ye  did  it  unto  the  least  of  my  poor 
bretliren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  Me.  When  ye  consoled 
the  sorrowful,  your  words  of  pity  sank  into  My  wounded 
heart ;  it  was  My  ear  that  listened  when  ye  instructed 
the  pauper ;  when  ye  reheved  the  beggar,  this  pierced 
hand  took  the  alms ;  when  ye  gave  drink  to  the  thirsty, 
ye  hfted  the  cup  to  the  Hps  of  your  Eedeemer  and  your 
God.     And  these  shall  go  into  everlasting  hfe." ' 

As  you  leave  the  College  of  Our  Lady  of  Angels,  to 
cross  into  Canada  by  the  Suspension  Bridge,  you  see 
above  the  rainbow-crowned  mist  the  Convent  of  Our 
Lady  of  Peace.  It  is  a  house  of  Lorettines,  and,  be- 
ing a  place  of  pilgrimage,  wUl  be  spoken  of  hereafter. 
Let  us  come  to  Our  Lady  of  Saint  Ursula  and  Saint 
Angela. 

There  is  an  order  of  holy  women  "wonderfully  raised 
up,"  says  the  Collect,  "  in  His  Church  by  God,  under 
the  protection  of  the  glorious  Yirgin  Mary,  Mother  of 
His  only-begotten  Son."*  These  enter  the  Chapel, 
wherein  they  take  their  veil  and  vows,  to  the  music  of 
this  solemn  march : 

O  GLORIOSA  vmaiNUM.3 

0  Mary,  while  thy  Maker  blest 
Is  nourished  at  thy  virgin  breast, 
Such  glory  shines  that  stars,  less  bright. 
Behold  thy  face  and  lose  their  light. 

'  St.  Matthew,  xxv.  34-46. 

2  Ck)llect  for  Feast  of  St.  Ursula. 

3  I  find  this  rendering  in  Bishop  England's  Works,  iv.  208. 


IN  North  America.  291 

The  loss  that  man  in  Eve  deplores, 
Thy  fruitful  womb  in  Christ  restores ; 
And  makes  the  way  to  heaven  free 
For  them  that  mourn  to  follow  thee. 

By  thee  the  heavenly  gates  display 
And  show  the  lights  of  endless  day. 
Sing,  ransomed  nations !  sing,  and  own 
Your  ransom  was  a  Virgin's  Son. 

May  age  to  age  forever  sing 
The  Virgin's  Son  and  Angel's  King, 
And  praise,  with  the  celestial  host, 
The  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 

And  then  the  celebrant  chants  solemnly,  for  the 
postulant,  Ora  pro  ea,  Sancta  Dei  Genitrix  ;  ^nd  the 
choir  of  sisters  respond  in  harmony,  JJt  digna  efficiatur 
promissionibus  Christi.  "  Pray  for  her,  Holy  Mother  of 
God,  that  she  may  be  made  worthy  of  the  promises  of 
Christ."  *  These  are  the  Ursulines,  and  to  me,  at  least 
while  making  this  book,  they  seem  inseparable,  some- 
how, from  the  Sisters  of  Charity  and  Mercy.  Kemem- 
ber  the  beginning  of  our  story,  and  see  how  they  stood 
side  by  side  amid  the  Canadian  snows.  When  they 
were  burnt  out  in  the  sharp  winter  of  1638-9,"  it  was 
the  sisters  who  received  them  into  such  shelter  as  they 
had,  and  clothed  them  for  the  time  in  their  own  gray 
habits.  At  New  Orleans,  they  had,  at  one  time,  to 
perform  the  duties  of  Hospital  Sisters,  for  they  were 
the  only  religious  there  in  1728,'  and  for  many  years 


1  V7orks  of  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  England,  iv.  193. 

^  Vide  this  work,  pp.  40,  41. 

^  Annales  de  I'Ordre  de  Sainte  Ursule,  Clermont-Ferrand,  ii.  661. 


292  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

« 

after.  It  was  in  tlieir  scliools  that  tlie  first  ludian 
girls  were  tauglit ;  it  may  be  there  that  the  last  shall 
learn  their  Ave  Maria,  before  thej  perish  under  the 
ruthless  feet  of  the  white  man. 

"When  we  last  saw  the  daughters  of  Saint  Angela 
Merici,  they  were  in  Montreal  and  Quebec.  A  century 
later  we  find  them  amid  the  miasms  of  Louisiana. 
Mother  Mary  Tranchepain,  surnamed  of  Saint  Augus- 
tine, and  ten  devoted  companions,  form  the  first  band 
who  go  to  the  city  of  New  Orleans — city  of  so  many 
and  varied  destinies.  We  have  her  own  earnest  and 
pious  account  of  the  voyage ;  ^  of  their  danger  and 
T\T.'eck,  and  their  vow  to  Saint  Mary  the  Virgin  ;  of  her 
perfect  confidence  in  that  good  Mother,  and  conse- 
quent calm  fearlessness."  Afterwards  she  describes 
the  arrival  and  rude  settlement  of  their  community, 
and  then,  also,  she  has  to  tell  of  the  holy  death  of 
three  of  them,  as  each  in  her  turn  succumbed  to  the 
labors  and  the  insalubrity  of  the  climate. 

On  the  first  year  of  their  arrival  they  were  welcomed 
by  somewhat  such  terrors  as  gi'eeted  theu^  sisters  long 
ago  in  the  days  of  the  Iroquois.  The  Natchez  fell 
upon  Fort  Eosahe,  and  massacred  all  but  the  childi'en. 
These,  or  thirty  at  least  of  them,  were  purchased  back 
from  the  savages,  and  formed  the  first  Orphan  Asylum 
of   the  Ursulines.      To  this  they  soon    added  other 


'  Relation  du  Voyage  des  premieres  Ursulines  a  la  Nouvelle  Orleans 
et  de  leur  etablissement  en  cette  ville.  Par  la  R.  Mere  St.  Augustia 
de  Tranchepain. 

'  Relation  du  Voyage,  etc.,  pp.  15,  25,  26. 


m  North  America.  293 

schools,  one  for  young  French  ladies,  one  for  the  slave 
women,  a  day-school  for  the  poorer  white  children,  a 
hospital,  and  a  Magdalen  Asylum.  So  that  not  con- 
tent with  being  Ursuhnes,  they  must  needs,  for  awhile 
at  least,  make  themselves  Daughters  of  Charity  and 
Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  And  for  all  these  toils, 
in  1730,  seven  nuns — it  was  all  that  was  left  of  them — 
found  courage  and  resignation  in  those  inexhaustible 
wells,  the  Hearts  of  Jesus  and  Mary.' 

By  and  by  there  comes,  in  1755,  a  new  claim  on  the 
charity  of  these  brave  women,  a  claim  met  heartily 
and  with  good-will.  It  came  from  the  extreme  North, 
there  where  Mary  of  the  Incarnation  worked  and  wrote 
long  ago.  In  her  neighborhood,  but  still  further  north 
and  eastward,  in  the  now  British  province  of  Nova 
Scotia,  was  the  land  once  known  as  Acadia.  There 
are  many  Protestant  historians  who  sketch  the  sad 
history  of  the  cruel  ruin  of  these  settlements,  but  there 
are  no  Catholic  authors  obtainable  by  me.  Most 
beautiful  of  aU  narratives  is  Longfellow's  "Evange- 
line ;"  but  it  tells  the  story  only  of  two  exiles,  both 
of  whom  find  their  rest  in  another  part  of  this  vast 
semi-continent,  and,  cradled  in  Nova  Scotia,  make 
their  graves  in  Pennsylvania.  When  Evangeline 
wandered  to  Louisiana,  she  found  only  Ursuhne 
nuns,  as  there  were  no  other  religious  in  New  Or- 
leans at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  Acadians. 
These  holy  women  formed  the  provisional   army  of 


»  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,  pp.  157,  158. 


294  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

Charity  and  Mercy  during  the  first  struggles  of  those 
countries. 

They  were  Bretons  originally,  these  Acadians,  and 
from  that  land,  and  from  illustrious  La  Vendee,  whose 
warriors  went  to  battle  with  the  sacred  Heart  of  Mary, 
white  embroidered,  upon  their  breasts,  they  brought 
their  fidelity  to  the  Queen  of  Angels,  far  over  the 
troubled  Atlantic,  to  the  wild  and  ice-bound  shores  of 
Cape  Breton.  They  made  those  deserts  blossom  ;  the 
valleys  of  that  boreal  and  breeze-swept  land  stood 
thick  with  golden  corn  ;  sixty  thousand  head  of  horned 
cattle  soon  grazed  upon  the  pastures  tilled  by  their 
careful  and  industrious  hands.  The  flax  which  they 
cultivated,  and  the  flocks  wliich  they  reared,  spun  and 
woven  by  the  nimble  fingers  of  their  pious  women, 
clothed  the  Acadian  farmers.  Each  family  was  well 
able  to  provide  for  its  own  wants,  so  that  there  were 
no  poor,  and  little  barter.  The  blessing  of  paper- 
money  had  not  lighted  upon  them,  and  they  had  little 
or  no  use  for  the  shght  stpck  of  gold  and  silver  which 
they  possessed.  They  kept  as  clear  of  the  court  of 
justice  as  they  did  of  the  trader's  exchange.  The 
elders  of  the  villages  settled  all  shght  quarrels  ;  they 
carried  the  greater  to  the  priest.  He  drew  their  pub- 
lic acts,  recorded  their  wills,  kept  them  instructed  in 
the  law  of  God,  consecrated  their  lives  by  Sacraments, 
kept  vivid  in  their  souls  devotion  to  Mary  Im- 
maculate. His  salary  was  the  tioenty -seventh  part 
of  the  harvest — always  more  than  he  needed,  for 
there  were  no  poor.     "Misery  was  wholly  unknown. 


IN  North  America.  295 

and  benevolence  anticipated  tlie  demands  of  pov- 
ertj."  ' 

The  Acadian  married  young,  cliose  his  own  partner 
for  life,  and  she  brought  him  her  portion  in  flocks  and 
herds.  "WTien  the  union  had  been  determined  on,  the 
whole  community  built  the  young  couple  a  house, 
broke  up  the  lands  about  it,  supphed  them  with  hfe's 
necessaries  for  a  twelvemonth,  and  bade  them  God 
speed.  The  population  numbered  eighteen  thousand 
souls.  And  when  their  sun  was  at  its  serenest  the 
storm  came  down.  In  1762  this  charge  was  brought 
against  them,  "  That  the  Council  were  fully  convinced 
of  their  strict  attachment  to  the  French  king,  and  their 
readiness  at  aU  times  to  take  part  with  and  assist 
him."  '  This  was  the  cloud,  and  from  it  the  lightning 
soon  fell.  In  the  Octave  of  Our  Lady's  Seven  Sorrows, 
September  17,  they  stood  upon  the  shore  surrounded 
with  bayonets  which  were  to  di'ive  them,  if  resisting, 
into  the  vessels  prepared  for  then-  deportation.  Their 
houses,  churches,  barns,  and  mills  had  been  given  to 
the  flames — two  hundi-ed  and  fifty-three  of  these  burn- 
ing at  once  in  a  single  settlement,  five  hundred  lying 
in  ashes  in  another.  Some  fled  and  perished  in  the 
woods,  some  made  good  their  escape,  most  of  them 
submitted  to  the  force  employed. 

Back  fi'om  the  cold  beach  about  a  mUe  stood  the 


'  Haliburton,  C.  J.,  i.  172. 

*  Proceedings  of  liis  Majesty's  Council  on  the  subject  of  the  removal 
of  the  Acadians  in  1763,  extracted  from  Council  books. 


296  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Makt 

Churcli  of  Our  Lady  of  Acadie.  There  tliey  gathered 
for  the  last  time,  while  Father  Reynal  offered  the  Holy 
Mysteries  for  them.  Then  they  marched  slowly  out, 
weeping,  telHng  their  beads,  chanting  the  Litanies  of 
the  Blessed  Yirgin,  singing  hymns  to  her  eternal  Son 
and  her.  All  the  way  fiom  that  chapel  to  the  shore 
the  mournful  procession  passed  through  the  kneeling 
ranks  of  their  wild  weeping  mothers  and  wives,  of  theu^ 
sisters  and  little  children ;  and  when  the  men  had 
passed,  these  rose  and  followed  to  the  ships.  And  so, 
driven  aboard,  they  passed  away  over  the  strange  seas, 
in  that  Octave  of  Our  Lady  of  Sorrows. 

The  sun  went  down.  Such  of  the  poor  women  as 
were  left  found  shelter  where  they  could  for  them- 
selves and  their  children,  and  the  provincial  soldiery 
stood  in  their  ranks  upon  the  sands,  alone  in  a  once 
beautiful  and  fertile  country,  "  without  a  foe  to  sub- 
due, or  a  population  to  protect.  But  the  volumes  of 
smoke,"  says  the  Protestant  historian,  "which  the 
half-expiring  embers  emitted,  while  they  marked  the 
site  of  the  peasant's  cottage,  bore  testimony  to  the  ex- 
tent of  the  work  of  destruction.  For  several  succes- 
sive evenings  the  cattle  gathered  round  the  smoking 
ruins,  as  if  in  expectation  of  the  return  of  their  masters, 
and  all  night  long  the  faithful  watch-dogs  howled  over 
the  scene  of  desolation,  and  mourned  alike  the  hand 
that  had  fed  and  the  house  that  had  sheltered  them." ' 


'  Historical  and  Statistical  Account  of  Nova  Scotia,  by  Hon.  Chief- 
Justice  Haliburton.    Halifes,  1829,  i.  180,  181. 


EI  North  Ameeica.  297 

All  these  sad  victims  were  sown  like  wild-flower 
seeds,  by  chance,  as  it  were,  all  along  the  North  Amer- 
ican coast  from  Main  to  Louisiana.  No  regard  was 
paid  to  family  ties  :  daughters  were  separated  from 
their  mothers,  wives  from  husbands,  and  httle  children 
from  their  families.  Such  of  the  latter,  a  large  num- 
ber,  as  reached  New  Orleans,  formed  the  second  in- 
heritance of  orphans  which  fell  to  the  Ursulines  of  the 
South.    There,  at  least,  these  little  ones  found  a  home. 

Many  a  trial  to  their  faith,  hope,  and  patience,  had 
the  community  of  New  Orleans  to  sustain.  First,  want, 
and  labor,  and  poverty, — ^but  these  were  natural  to  the 
missionary  nun;  then  the  loss  of  eighteen  of  their 
number  at  once,  who  retired  to  Havana  on  the  pur- 
chase of  Louisiana  by  the  United  States  Government ;' 
then  by  the  decay  of  rehgious  spirit  among  the  people, 
only  revived  by  the  coming  of  Bishop  Dubourg.  They 
knew  where  to  have  recourse  in  their  sorrows.  The 
good  bishop  having  obtained  for  them  the  permission 
of  the  Holy  Father  to  that  effect,  they  placed  them- 
selves under  the  especial  protection  of  Saint  Mary, 
and  called  themselves  thenceforward  Ursulines  of  the 
Presentation  of  Our  Lady."  And  then,  at  the  close  of 
1814,  having  finished  their  chapel,  they  erected  the 
statue  of  our  Lady  of  Swift  Help,  Notre  Dame  de 
Fromjit  Secours,  and  thither  go  the  Ursulines  for  com- 
fort now.     In  that  same  year  of  1815,  an  army  threat- 


*  Servantes  de  Dieu :  La  Roche  Heron,  p.  28. 
*  This  was  effected  on  January  16, 1813 
13* 


298  Devotion  to  B.  Y.  Maey 

ened  tlie  town  of  New  Orleans,  and  General  Andi-ew 
Jackson  commanded  its  defences.  And  while  Old 
Hickory  swore  and  fought  hard,  the  daughters  of  Saint 
Angela  knelt  before  the  statue  of  Notre  Dame,  and 
behind  them  knelt  the  women  of  the  city,  lady  and 
negress  side  by  side,  all,  with  earnest  supphcation, 
pouring  forth  the  Litany  of  "Our  Lady  of  Prompt 
Succor."  And  the  cannon  that  thundered  without, 
and  the  rattle  of  musketry,  and  the  shouts  of  the 
fighters  went  their  way  also.  Perhaps,  since  then, 
with  the  same  or  greater  agony  of  supplication,  they 
may  have  prayed  this  Litany ;  perhaps  they  are  pray- 
ing it  now,  October,  1862. 

We  will  condense  it  for  economy  of  space.  After  the 
usual  Kyi-ie  eleison  and  invocation  of  the  Most  Holy 
Trinity,  of  "  Holy  Mary,"  and  of  "  Mother  of  the  Li- 
fant  Jesus,"  it  is  in  substance  as  follows  : 

Our  Lady  of  Prompt  Help,  Pray  for  us. 

Our  Lady,  Prompt  Help  of  those  who  invoke  thee 
with  confidence  ;  of  those  devout  to  the  Infant  Jesus  ; 
of  those  yearning  for  an  earnest  and  enhghtened  faith  ; 
of  penitents ;  of  afflicted  famihes  ;  of  the  poor  and  in- 
firm ;  of  travellers ;  of  mariners ;  of  the  shipwrecked ; 
of  those  in  the  last  agony ;  of  the  souls  in  purgatory. 
Pray  for  us. 

Our  Lady,  Prompt  Help  to  obtain  and  preserve 
charity ;  to  observe  the  law  of  God ;  to  obtain  con- 
trition and  perseverance  in  the  practice  of  good  works. 
Pray  for  us. 

Our  Lady,  Prompt  Help  in  the  conversion  of  sin- 


IN  NoETH  America.  299 

ners ;  in  tlie  wants  of  the  soul ;  in  occasions  of  sin ;  in 
temptation ;  in  necessities  of  the  body ;  in  the  acci- 
dents of  hfe ;  in  conflagration ;  in  inundation ;  in  en- 
lightening Tinbehevers;  in  the  conversion  of  heretics, 
Pray  for  us. 

Our  Lady,  Prompt  Help  against  impurity ;  against 
the  revolt  of  the  will  from  God's  will ;  against  lightning 
and  tempests  ;  against  contagious  diseases  ;  against  the 
Evil  One,  Pray  for  us. 

Our  Lady,  Prompt  Help  of  tlie  people  of  New  Orleans; 
of  those  who  fight  in  defence  of  their  country ;  against 
our  enemies.  Pray  for  us. 

O  God,  who  beholdest  us  encompassed  on  all  sides 
by  dangers  and  miseries ;  grant  us  in  Thy  goodness 
that  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  Mother  of  God  Thy 
only  Son,  may  defend  us  from  the  mahgnant  enemy, 
and  protect  us  against  all  adversity;  that  she  may 
ever,  by  prompt  help,  dehver  us  fi-om  the  necessities 
of  body  and  soul,  and  with  her  powerful  hand  lead  us 
in  safety  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  through,  etc/ 

In  1823  these  noble  Ursuhnes  of  New  Orleans  were 
strengthened  by  a  colony  of  six  from  Old  Quebec 
again ;  and  in  1861  by  others  from  the  convent  of  St. 
Martin,  in  Ohio.  Let  us  move  that  way.  Up  from 
the  French  capital,  following  Marquette's  Kiver  of  the 
Lnmaculate  Conception  to  the  Ohio,  first  known  to 
those  Jesuit  servants  of  Mary  who  died  beneath  the 


'  Find  tliia  Litany  printed  in  St.   John's  Manual.     Dunigan   & 
Bro.,  New  York,  1857,  p.  1136. 


300  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

Iroquois  tomaliawk  and  scalping-knife,  to  tlie  catliedral 
town  of  Cincinnati;  and  thence  back  into  the  new 
country,  where,  since  July  21,  in  the  Octave  of  Our 
Lady  of  Mount  Carmel,  1845,  they  have  been  training 
souls  in  the  love  of  God  and  Mary. 

As  you  approach  it,  you  are  struck  with  the  features 
of  American  natural  beauty  which  surround  it :  we 
once  heard  an  eloquent  guest  compare  it  to  the  Happy 
Valley  of  Kasselas,  a  valley  i7i,  but  not  of  the  world. 
"We  would  rather  liken  it  to  the  mountain-top,  as  being 
more  isolated,  and  higher  up,  nearer  to  God  than  val- 
leys are  or  may  be.  Mountain-top  or  valley,  however, 
this  place  is  hke  a  result  of  the  traditional  recollection 
of  Eden.  The  broad  plains  covered  with  corn,  vine- 
yards, and  orchards,  or  lying  in  wide  sheets  of  dark 
green  meadow,  daisy-spotted  and  arabesqued  by 
brooks ;  the  stately,  calm  nobleness  of  ancient  forests, 
linden  and  oak  and  maple  and  locust ;  then  over  and 
through  all  this,  the  humming  of  bees  and  golden 
beetles  in  the  noon,  and  the  flashing  of  phosphoric 
fire-flies,  diamond-hke  luminous  in  the  dusk ;  and  the 
constant,  varied  song  of  unhunted  birds,  from  the 
pure,  sweet  whistle  of  the  golden  yellow-bird,  through 
robin  and  red-bird,  quail-pipe,  screech  of  blue-jay,  low 
coo  of  purple-throated  dove,  to  the  varied  utterance 
of  the  reddish  mocking-bird,  and  the  sweet,  rollicking 
song  of  the  boboHnk,  rocking  on  a  mullen  top. 

First  you  see  the  Httle  church,  usually  with  half  a 
dozen  birds  upon  its  cross,  making  you  think  of  that 
.Ebce  enim  jpasser  invenit  domum,  etc.     Behold  the  spar- 


IN  North  America.  301 

Toio  Jiath  found  her  a  Jiouse,  and  tlie  turtle-dove  a  nest 
wliere  she  may  Jay  her  young,  even  Thine  altars,  0  Lord 
of  Hosts,  my  King  and  my  God.''  Then  yon  see  tlie 
presbytery  wliere  two  holy  priests,  Fathers  Gacon  and 
Cheymol  have,  hke  their  Master,  been  "  doing  good" 
for  twenty  years;  and  then  you  see,  amid  the  trees, 
the  noble  Convent  of  the  devoted  daughters  of  St. 
Ursula. 

Another  colony  comes  to  Cleveland.  Their  bishop, 
Mgr.  Eappe,  receives  them  in  their  chapel  with  Bene- 
diction of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  the  first  time  there, 
on  the  feast  of  the  Virgin's  Assumption.  In  the  Oc- 
tave of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  their  chapel  re- 
ceived by  its  consecration  that  beautiful  title  as  its 
own.  On  the  festival  of  the  Annunciation,  the  first 
Communion  of  the  pupils  took  place.  Go  further  north 
and  you  find  them  still ;  at  three  Kivers,  at  the  Saut 
Sainte  Marie,  children  these,  too,  of  the  antique  pio- 
neers of  Quebec.  And  these  of  the  North  now  count 
over  seventeen  thousand  pupils,  instructed  in  more 
than  the  ordinary  branches,  some  in  the  highest  of 
women's  studying  ;  best  of  all,  instructed  in  the  lore  of 
love  of  God,  and  devotion  to  the  Model  of  Christian 
women,  the  stainless  and  gentle  Mary.'' 

But  we  must  retrace  our  way,  back  down  the  Father 
of  Waters,  to  what,  so  short  a  time  ago,  was  wilder- 
ness ;  to  far-off  Texas,  to  Galveston  and  San  Antonio. 


1  Psalm  Ixxxiii.  3. 

'  Annales  de  I'Ordre  de  Sainte  Ursule,  ii.  550,  556. 


302  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

Sister  Saint  Ambrose  will  be  our  guide.'  From  South- 
ern France,  she — from  Auch,  in  diocese  of  Toulouse. 
"Good-by,  fair  France!"  she  writes  from  Havre  ;  "fare- 
well, my  good  Mother  Superior,  and  all  my  sisters. 
We  confessed,  heard  Mass,  and  received  the  Holy 
Communion  this  morning  at  Notre  Dame.  Earnestly 
we  called  upon  Mary,  and  besought  her  to  offer  us  to 
her  Divine  Son  :  then,  at  her  feet,  we  bade  adieu  to  all 
whom  we  love.  Good-by,  till  heaven."  It  was  on  the 
eve  of  the  Annunciation  of  Our  Lady  that  they  sailed. 
On  the  Feast  of  her  Visitation  they  were  at  their  home 
in  Galveston.  It  was  on  an  island,  she  tells  us,  flat, 
without  a  single  spring;  they  drank  unfiltered  rain- 
water there,  as  in  Africa  and  elsewhere.  They  are  de- 
voured by  mosquitos  ;  overrun  with  sharp-biting  ants. 
The  convent  is  of  wood.  "Not  much  of  a  palace," 
says  Sister  Saint  Ambrose,  "  but  finer  than  our  Lord's 
at  Bethlehem."  For  her  own  presidential  room,  she 
has  a  plank  hut,  a  shanty  in  the  garden ;  with  a  rough 
wooden  cross  made  by  herself,  and  below  it,  pasted  on 
the  wall,  une  'petite,  image  de  Marie, — a  Httle  picture  of 
Mary. 

"  Send  us  some  help,  good  mother,"  she  writes  to 
France ;  "  young  sisters,  in  good  health.  Make  them 
study  English  thoroughly,  without  going  before  the 
mirror  to  practise  the  th.  Preach  to  them  well. 
Promise  them,  that  if  they  come  here,  they  shall  have 
aflfliction,  privation,  humiliation,  suffering,  and  temp- 

J  Annales,  ii.  571,  608. 


IN  North  America.  303 

tation  of  all  sorts  and  'without  end.'"  The  Protestant 
ministers  preach  a  crusade  against  them :  it  sends  all 
the  curious  to  look  at  and  hsten  to  them.  Ministers 
mock  at  the  poverty  of  their  convent ;  it  sets  people 
thinking,  and  converts  come  in  by  the  dozen.  A  hur- 
ricane sweeps  away  the  roof ;  the  rain-storm  that  fol- 
lows drenches  the  house.  "  Never  mind,"  says  Sister 
Saint  Ambrose,  "  we  sail  in  the  good  ship,  '  The  Divine 
Will,'  peacefully  and  joyously,  and  are  confident  that 
Mary  will  bring  us  safe  to  port." 

After  a  little,  in  the  summer  of  1853,  the  yellow  fever 
and  the  cholera  together  furnish  them  with  new  ex- 
periences. In  New  Orleans  two  thousand  persons 
perish  in  a  single  week :  the  dead-cart  rumbles  per- 
petually over  the  pavement.  In  Galveston  these 
plagues  decimate  the  population.  "But  all  om-  con- 
fidence is  in  Mary,  who  we  know  wiU  help  us  to  keep 
ready  for  our  appearance  before  our  Lord."  Prayers 
are  ordered,  of  course,  by  Monseigneur  Odin.  To 
these  the  UrsuKnes  add  a  particular  devotion  to 
Mary.  In  the  Octave  of  Our  Lady's  Nativity  in  Sep- 
tember, almost  in  the  tropics,  a  severe  frost  sets  in  and 
the  terrible  scourges  are  checked.  "  No  doubt,"  says 
the  pious  sister,  "  we  owe  this  favor  to  Blessed  Mary ; 
therefore  we  intend  to  make  a  devotion  in  her  honor 
immediately,  at  once  to  recognize  her  kindness  in 
banishing  the  plagues,  and  to  beg  her  continuous  pro- 
tection for  our  community." 

There  were,  before  the  sickness,  seven  priests  and  a 
deacon  in  the  then  new  settlement ;  after  it,  there  re- 


304  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

mained  tico  priests.  This  was  October,  1853,  and  Sister 
Saint  Ambrose  says,  "We  hope  that  Mary  will  preserve 
these  two.  In  our  house  we  have  not  had  a  single 
case,  neither  among  the  religious  nor  the  scholars. 
The  true,  the  only  reason  for  this  is  the  *  devotion'  of 
which  I  have  spoken,  offered  by  the  community  unto 
Mary." 

THE  VOW  OF  THE  GALVESTON   UESULINES   TO  THE   IM- 
LIACULATE  HEART  OF  MART, 

Co^rSECRATINa  THEMSELVES  TO  IT  EST  GRATITUDE  FOR  THEIR  PRES- 
ERVATION FROM  THE  SCOURGE  OF  1853,  AKD  TO  ASSXHIE  THEM- 
BELVES  A  CONTmUATION  OF  HER  LOVE.     OCTOBER  9,  1853. 

"  O  Mary,  Mother  of  God  and  our  Mother,  deign  to 
look  upon  this  community  of  the  daughters  of  Saint 
Angela,  who,  prostrate  before  thee,  render  thee  their 
homage  and  implore  thy  protection. 

"  Remember,  0  Mary,  that  the  Most  High  has  made 
thee  the  dispenser  of  His  bounty;  and  that  He  has 
only  made  thee  so  powerful,  so  rich,  and  so  good,  that 
thou  mayst  give  us  succor  in  our  wretchedness.  Thou 
seest  the  calamities  which  afflict  this  land ;  perhaps 
our  want  of  ardor  in  thy  service  has  been  the  only 
cause  of  them.  Help  us  now  worthily  to  repair  our 
forgetfulness  and  our  ingratitude.  Revenge  thyseK, 
we  pray  thee ;  but  revenge  thyseK,  O  tender  Mother, 
by  piercing  our  hearts  with  a  sword  of  love  for  thy 
dear  Son  and  thee.  Henceforth  we  wish  to  be  thy 
most  devoted  servants.  We  choose  thee  for  our 
Queen,  our  Mother,  oui'  Advocate,  and  our  Patroness. 


m  NoKTH  Ameeica.  305 

To  tliee  we  dedicate  and  consecrate  ourselves,  and  onr 
convent,  and  the  hearts  of  all  who  dwell  or  shall  dwell 
therein  forever.  Queen  of  Virgins,  deign  to  accept 
the  irrevocable  gift  of  ourselves,  which,  in  the  sight 
of  heaven  and  earth,  we  make  to  thee  this  day.  And 
that  we  may  obtain  thy  strong  protection  for  this  con- 
vent, which  is  now  thine  own,  we  solemnly  engage — 

"  1.  To  dedicate  our  new  convent  and  its  church  to 
God,  under  the  title  of  the  Immaculate  Conception. 

"  2.  To  make  a  nine  days'  devotion  before  each  of 
our  feasts. 

"3.  To  make  a  procession  in  thy  honor  on  the  feasts 
of  thy  Immaculate  Conception,  thy  Nativity,  thy  An- 
nunciation, and  Assumption. 

"  4.  On  each  of  these  days  to  cause  the  Most  Holy 
Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  to  be  offered  for  these  intentions. 

"  O,  our  dear  Mother,  crown  all  the  kindness  thou 
hast  shown  us  by  the  grace  of  a  holy  and  happy  death, 
that  so,  one  day,  we  may  all  ascend  to  love  thee,  and 
to  bless  thee  forever  in  heaven.     Amen." ' 

The  Mother  Superior,  Sister  Saint  Jane  de  Chantal, 
read  this  vow  aloud  in  the  presence  of  the  Most 
Blessed  Sacrament  exposed.  A  young  girl,  white- 
robed,  held  a  wax-light  near  her.  "  We  sang  the  hymn 
and  chorus  of  Oui'  Lady  of  Victories,  Notre  Dame  des 
Vidoires ;  then  the  Superior,  in  the  name  and  by  the 
consent  of  all  the  sisterhood,  pronounced  the  vow  of 
consecration.     Then,  afterwards,  we  sang  the  hymn, 

1  Annales  de  I'Ordre  de  Saint  Ursula,  ii,  595. 
V 


306  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

I  am  tlie  child  of  sweet  Mary, 

And  that  Mother  beloved  doth  bless  me  each  day ; 
I  am  the  child  of  sweet  Mary, 

'Tis  the  cry  of  my  heart,  'tis  my  chorus  alway. 

How  blest  is  he,  0  tender  Mother, 

Who  in  thy  ranks  hath  chosen  his  part  1 
There  is  on  earth  no  bliss  more  perfect, 

Than  his  who  gives  to  thee  his  heart.' 

"  Then  came  the  Tantum  Ergo,  and,  after  the  bene- 
diction, the  Te  Deum.  Our  statue  of  the  Virgin  we 
had  decorated  witli  our  best  taste  and  power,  and  slie 
seemed  to  us  more  gracious  than  ordinary." 

Fire  next ;  but  Mary  sliows  her  tenderness  in  that ; 
and  though  the  buildings  be  of  pine,  and  the  column 
of  flame  is  visible  from  afar,  but  Httle  damage  is  done. 
The  Convent  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  grows 
rapidly  the  while.  Next  year  comes  the  fever.  "  The 
houses  around  us  are  all  draped  ui  mourning :  our  con- 
vent alone  escapes  without  a  single  case."  At  the  cathe- 
dral, a  priest,  the  Abbe  Metz,  faUs  victim.  "  Thanks  to 
our  Mother  Mary,  so  good,  so  tender !  May  the  people 
here  learn  her  gentleness  and  love  her."  There  are 
more  hurricanes.     Once,  the  gulf  and  the  bay  threaten 

'  Je  Buis  I'enfant  de  Marie, 

Et  ma  mere  cherie  me  benit  chaque  jour ; 
Je  suis  I'enfant  de  Marie, 
C'est  le  cri  de  mon  cceur,  c'est  men  refrain  d'amour. 

Qu'il  est  heureux,  O  tendre  mere, 

Celui  qui  t'a  donne  son  cceur  1 
Est-il  un  etat  sur  la  terre 

Qui  pnisse  egaler  son  bonheur  ? 

— Oantique  a  Marie  ImmacuUe. 


m  NoETH  America.  307 

to  unite  tlieir  waters  and  submerge  tlie  island.  Tlie 
lime  takes  fire  and  burns  away — four  hundred  dollars' 
worth.  A  hurricane  unroofs  the  town.  3Iais,  Marie 
nous  a  ijrotege— Bui  Mary  protected  us.  The  other 
sisters  are  rather  busy,  but  "  I,"  Sister  Saint  Ambrose, 
"  only  teach  French,  writing,  drawing,  embroidery,  and 
a  few  hours  of  classes !"  And  so  let  us  bid  farewell  to 
Sister  Saint  Ambrose  and  her  convent  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception, — safe  there  on  that  island,  with  the 
moan  of  the  American  Mediterranean  for  perpetual 
deep  basso  to  the  hymns  of  the  UrsuKnes. 

Sail  now  along  the  gulf  where  the  coast  trends  south- 
ward and  westward,  till  you  reach  Espiritu  Santo,  the 
Bay  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Into  that  pour  two  streams ; 
the  larger  is  the  river  of  Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe,  the 
second  is  Saint  Anthony's  river.  Tracing  the  latter 
up,  some  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  beach,  you 
win  come  to  its  head-waters  and  the  ancient  Sj)an- 
ish  town  and  new  Ursuline  convent  of  San  Antonio. 
Let  us  listen  to  an  extract  from  the  letters  of  Sister 
Saint  Joseph,  as  Mother  Saint  Angela  reads  them 
aloud  to  the  community  in  far-off  French  Brignolles. 

Country,  she  thinks,  rather  savage.  Our  cloister 
wall  consists  of  certain  stakes  set  in  the  earth  and 
connected  by  iron  wire.  Father  Dubois,  priest  of  the 
parish,  made  our  grand  gate.  Cattle  are  numerous,  a 
circumstance  unfavorable  to  sleep.  Besides  this,  hun- 
dreds of  wolves'  prowl  round  the  cabins  by  night,  and 


'  Prairie  wolves,  coyotes. 


808  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  IMart 

if  not  particularly  dangerous,  are  at  least  an  insuffer- 
able nuisance,  for  tliey  howl  the  whole  night  through. 
Any  lack  of  needful  peril  is  made  up  by  the  great 
abundance  of  rattlesnakes.  "  One  day  we  found  a 
large  one  in  the  kitchen,  coiled  up  upon  a  plate." 
Sister  Saint  Joseph  begs  a  place  in  men's  memory  of 
the  animal  kingdom  at  San  Antonio  for  the  fleas.  She 
says  that  they  are  many ;  that  they  last  for  five 
months  each  season.  She  declines  to  commit  herseK 
to  any  definite  census  of  them,  but  quotes  from  a 
letter  of  Father  Dubuis.  "  Even  now,  while  I  write  to 
you,  there  are  more  than  three  thousand  in  my  boots." ' 
These  are  the  amusements  at  San  Antonio :  for  the 
work  there  has  no  measurement  except  the  capacities 
and  physical  strength  of  each.  For  consolation  and 
support  they  too  have  their  Httle  chapel  of  the  Im- 
maculate Conception,  the  inner  joy  of  conformity  to 
God's  wOl,  the  assuraince  of  Mary's  love  and  pro- 
tection. 

Let  that  noble  type  of  the  missionary  bishop,  Mgi\ 
Odin,  tell  a  story  of  the  Convent  of  San  Antonio. 

"A  young  girl,  sixteen  years  of  age,  belonging  to  a 
Protestant  family,  after  having  spent  three  years  in 
the  Convent  of  San  Antonio,  and  often  expressed  the 
desire  of  receiving  baptism  and  becoming  a  Catholic, 
concluded  that  if  she  returned  to  her  parents  she 
would  never  have  the  happiness  of  embracing  our  holy 

'  Annales,  ii.  607. 


IN  North  America.  309 

religion.  She  consequently  asked  her  father  to  per- 
mit her  to  remain  some  time  longer  at  school.  Three 
days  after  receiving  the  permission  to  remain  she  fell 
ilL  From  the  first  she  declared  that  she  should  never 
get  better,  and  again  requested  to  be  baptized.  The 
Superior  recommended  her  to  wait  some  time  longer, 
hoping  that  she  would  be  better ;  but  a  few  days  hav- 
ing elapsed,  she  said  to  the  Mother  Superior,  '  I  have 
only  a  few  minutes  to  live ;  for  God's  sake  let  me  be 
baptized.'  The  priest  was  sent  for,  the  young  person 
received  the  sacrament  of  regeneration,  and  died  a  few 
hours  afterwards  in  the  most  sublime  sentiments  of 
piety. 

"  She  had  scarcely  been  buried  a  fortnight,  ere  the 
Protestant  newspapers  published  anonymous  letters, 
in  which  this  young  person's  death  was  questioned. 
This  report  gained  credence  in  the  public  mind ;  it  was 
intimated  that  the  rehgious  had  shut  her  up  in  a 
dungeon,  in  order  to  force  her  ultimately  to  join  their 
community.  Between  three  and  four  months  after  the 
interment,  the  father  of  the  young  person,  accom- 
panied by  several  Protestants,  presented  himself  at 
the  convent  to  verify  the  fact,  and  was  conducted  to 
the  tomb  which  contained  the  mortal  remains.  The 
grave  was  opened,  then  the  coffin :  the  deceased  was 
found  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation,  and  even  more 
beautiful  than  on  the  day  of  her  death ;  her  white  robe 
had  not  received  a  single  stain.  The  father  recogniz- 
ing her,  cried  out,  *  O  my  daughter !'  Then  he  wept 
bitterly,  and  uttered  no  word  of  complaint  against  the 


310  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

religions,  for  lie  was  convinced  that  these  good  sisters 
had  done  all  in  their  power  to  preserve  the  life  of  his 
child. 

"Some  time  after  this  event,  the  sister  sacristan, 
while  cleaning  the  chapel,  found,  under  the  foot  of  the 
statue  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  a  charming  letter,  which 
the  pious  gui  had  addressed  to  the  Queen  of  Angels, 
asking  of  her,  in  terms  of  admirable  simplicity,  to  ob- 
tain, from  her  Divine  Son,  for  the  writer,  the  grace  of 
not  dying  without  baptism.* 

"  t  John  Maey, 

"  Bisliop  of  Galveston^ 

And  now,  with  a  fact  or  two  about  the  connection  of 
the  Ursulines  with  the  Devotion  to  the  Mother  of  God 
in  North  America,  we  will  say  good-by  to  those  noble 
and  exemplary  ladies.  And  first :  their  distinct  mis- 
sion of  education  is  to  the  girls  and  young  women  of 
the  wealthier  classes.  They  always  have  schools  for 
poor  children  attached.  The  North  American  Ursu- 
lines, or  rather  the  Ursulines  in  North  America,  for, 
with  a  few  Enghsh  exceptions,  they  are  chiefly  French, 
have  taught  love,  confidence,  and  hope  in  Christ, 
through  His  beloved  Mother,  to  more  than  thii'ty  thou- 
sand of  the  wealthier  persons  of  this  country.  Ah, 
what  may  that  not  effect ;  thirty  thousand  seeds  sown, 
of  respect  for  marriage,  of  maternal  duty,  of  honor  to 
authority,  of  reverence  to  Blessed  Mary,  of  love  of 

'  Annals  of  tlie  Propagation  of  tlie  Faith,  November,  1859. 


IN  NoETH  America  311 

God,  of  fear  of  sin,  of  love  of  virtue,  of  habitual  self- 
government,  meaning  thereby,  domination  of  one's  own 
individual  passions.  Ten  Ursulines,  or  ten  of  their 
pupils  who  observe  and  Keep  what  the  Ursulines  teach 
them,  would  have  saved  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  Here 
there  are  eleven  houses  of  the  Order. 

To  conclude  this  chapter  let  us  borrow  an  article  or 
two  from  the  Constitutions. 

Aetigle  I.  Devotion  to  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God 
being  earnestly  recommended  to  all  religious  com- 
munities, inasmuch  as  she  is  their  Lady  and  Mother, 
as  well  as  the  sole  perfect  model  of  the  life  which  they 
should  lead,  the  religious  of  this  Order  of  Saint  Ursula 
are  more  particularly  bounden  to  this  duty,  so  that  by 
her  intercession  and  especial  protection  they  may  labor 
more  fruitfully  to  form  Jesus  Cheist  in  the  hearts  of 
young  girls,  and  to  instil  into  those  hearts  the  virtues 
of  Mary,  according  to  the  spirit  of  their  institute. 

Aetigle  II.  Therefore,  in  every  convent,  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary  shaU  be  especially  chosen  for  first  and 
chief  Superior,  which  election  shall  be  thus  made  : 

Aetigle  III.  On  the  day  appointed  by  proper  au- 
thority, aU  the  religious  of  a  community  being  as- 
sembled in  chapel,  wherein  shall  be  placed  a  statue  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  holding  in  her  sacred  arms  the 
Infant  Jesus,  they  shall  invoke  the  Holy  Ghost,  by 
saying  or  singing  the  hymn  Veni  Creator  Spiritus. 
Then  shall  follow  some  prayers  to  the  Mother  of  God, 
and  after  that  the  Mother  Superior  shall  place  the 
keys  of  the  convent  at  the  foot  of  the  statue,  and,  aU 


312  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maet 

kneeling,  she  sliall  offer  her  charge  and  the  convent  to 
Our  Lady  by  some  devout  prayer.  Then  the  Mother 
Superior  shall  render  homage  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  by 
kissing  the  feet  of  her  image,  and  all  the  sisters  shall 
do  so  in  turn,  passing  processionally,  and  singing  the 
Te  Deum  laudamus. 

And  this,  with  what  is  already  recorded,'  is  a  faint 
sketch  of  what  the  Ursulines  have  to  do  with  Devotion 
to  Mary  in  North  America. 

1  See  tMs  work,  pp.  33-47. 


IN  NoETH  America.  313 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Various  Oedees  of  Cue  Lady — PrLGEniAoEs  to  Oue  Lady  of  Peace, 
OF  Meeoy,  of  Geaoe,  and  back  to  Ode  Lady  of  Good  Help  in 

MONTEEAL. 

It  is  to  be  understood  that  every  religious  order  is 
devoted  in  some  way  to  the  Blessed  Yirgin.  But  in 
our  extreme  dearth  of  material  we  can  only  signalize 
a  few  besides  those  already  given.  The  Ladies  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  are  too  well  known  to  need  any  descrip- 
tion. They  are  in  Oregon  and  New  Orleans,  in  New 
York  and  Missouri.  They  had,  in  1853,  twelve  estab- 
lishments for  education :  they  numbered  two  hundred 
rehgious  in  the  United  States.'  The  Princess  Gallitzin, 
cousin  of  the  heroic  prince-priest  already  sketched,' 
was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  energetic  developers 
of  this  Order  in  North  America.  She  died  of  yellow 
fever  in  Louisiana  in  the  year  1843.  In  Canada  they 
have  forty-three  rehgious.  We  can  allude  to  only  one 
of  the  good  works  of  this  devout  order  of  women,  of 
which  the  influence  on  Devotion  to  Our  Lady  in  North 
America  is  most  evident,  and  by  which  their  zeal  for 
that  devotion  may  be  partially  estimated.     It  is  what 


'  Servantes  de  Dieu,  etc.,  pp.  93,  93. 
2  See  tliis  work,  p.  239. 

14 


314  Deyotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

the  Frencli  call  an  external  association/  comx^osed  of 
young  ladies  who  in  secular  society  retain  their  desire 
to  advance,  even  there,  the  cause  of  rehgion. 

It  is  called  "  Association  of  the  Children  of  Mary  in 
the  "World,"  and  is  composed,  in  the  first  instance,  of 
those  who  have  been  educated  in  the  schools  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  under  the  superintendence  of  a  religious 
of  which  order  every  society  is  placed.    Any  other  per- 
son, however,  desiring  to  share  in  the  privileges  may 
be  admitted,  after  the  prescribed  tests  of  fitness  have 
been  made.     The  principal  object  of  the  members  is  to 
cherish  a  tender  love  for  the  Divine  Heart  of  Jesus, 
modelling  their  love  upon  that  which  Mary  bore  her 
adorable  Son.     They  meet  on   the  first  Saturday  of 
every  month   at  the   Convent  of  the   Sacred  Heart, 
where  they  hsten  to  an  instruction,  after  having  as- 
sisted at  Mass  and  received  the  Sacraments  of  Pen- 
ance and  the  Most  Holy  Eucharist.     Then  the  various 
labors  and  undertakings  of  the  several  members  are 
discussed.     "  Our  Society,"   one  writes  to  me  from  a 
metropolis,  "is  large  and  flourishing.     Many  are  at- 
tracted to  it  by  the   simple   sweetness  of  the   title, 
*  Children  of  Mary,'  and,  inspired  by  filial  love,  aim 
diligently  to  acquire  the  virtues  which  should  charac- 
terize the  children  of  such  a  Mother.     You  may  ima- 
gine how   great  must  be   the   influence   of   such   an 
association  ;  and  it  is  consoling  to  think  how,  more 
and  more,  in  our  community  here,  this  influence  is 


Congregations  esternes. 


I 


IN  North  America.  315 

extending  among  tlie  wealthier  and  more  educated 
classes  in  general  society,  removing  antipathies,  soft- 
ening prejudices,  and  gently  but  surely  instiUing  the 
principles  of  Faith." 

Some  such  external  association  is,  I  believe,  directed 
by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  and  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Yisit- 
ation. 

There  is,  then,  an  order  in  the  dioceses  of  Michigan 
and  Philadelphia,  elsewhere  perhaps,  who  are  called 
"  Servants  of  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary."  Their 
objects  are  the  instruction  of  youth ;  the  founding  of 
Cathoh'c  schools ;  the  care,  if  necessary,  of  orphans ; 
the  instruction  of  young  girls  for  first  communion. 
Their  churches,  convents,  and  schools  are  all  placed 
under  the  immediate  protection  of  Our  Blessed  Im- 
maculate Mother.  Their  uniform  is  of  her  colors,  blue 
and  white ;  in  aU  their  exercises  they  have  particular 
exercises  in  honor  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  ;  and 
in  honor  of  that  sacred  mystery  they  commence  even 
their  recreations  with  a  "  Hail  Mary."  * 

There  is  no  end  to  the  variety  of  titles  under  which 
the  devotees  of  Mary  seek  to  express  their  love  for 
Our  dear  Lady.  Some  choose  for  especial  devotion 
that  grand  Mystery  of  her  preparation  to  bring  forth 
the  Eedeemer  of  the  world,  called  the  Immaculate 
Conception  ;  others  choose  the  Visitation,  and  find  the 
sanctification  of  children  to  be  their  distinct  work  in 
this  world.     Some  caU  themselves  Lorettines,  in  rever- 


>  Letter  of  Kev.  M.  Callaert,  October  18, 1861 


316  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

ence  of  that  particular  Lady-cliapel.  Some  honor  es- 
pecially Our  Lady  of  the  Presentation,  and  these  all 
take,  in  religion,  the  name  of  Mary.  One  Society  is 
called  "  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Names  of  Jesus  and 
Mary  ;"  another  is  the  "  Community  of  Our  Lady  of 
Charity  of  the  Good  Shepherd" — of  Him  who  said, 
"  As  a  shepherd  seeketh  out  his  flock,  so  wiU  I  seek 
out  my  sheep  and  will  dehver  them  out  of  all  places 
wherein  they  were  scattered  in  the  dark  and  cloudy 
day.  I  will  seek  that  which  was  lost,  and  bring  again 
that  which  was  driven  away,  and  will  bind  up  that 
which  was  broken,  and  will  strengthen  that  which  was 
sick.  And  I  wiU  make  with  them  a  covenant  of  peace, 
and  will  cause  the  evil  beasts  to  cease  out  of  the  land ; 
and  they  shall  dwell  safely  in  the  wilderness  ;  they 
shall  sleep  even  in  the  woods.  For  ye.  My  flock,  the 
flock  of  My  pasture,  are  men,  and  I  am  your  God, 
saith  the  Lord  God."  * 

This  is  the  community,  the  first  idea  whereof  sprang 
from  a  brave  woman  of  the  working  classes,  Madelaine 
I'Amy;  but  the  first  who  put  on  the  habit  and  pro- 
nounced the  vows,  was  a  child  of  one  of  the  haugh- 
tiest and  most  ancient  houses  of  Normandy,  Mademoi- 

'  Sicut  visitat  pastor  gregem  suam,  sic  visitabo  oves  meas,  ct  libe- 
rabo  eas  de  omnibus  locis  in  quibue  dispersae  fuerunt  in  die  nubis  et 
caliginis.  Quod  perierat  requiram,  et  quod  nbjectum  erat  reducam, 
et  quod  confractum  fuerat  alligabo  et  quod  infii-mum  fuerat  consoli- 
dabo.  Et  faciam  cum  eis  pactum  pacis,  et  cessare  faciam  bestias  pes- 
simas  de  terra  et  qui  habitant  in  deserto,  securi  dormient  in  saltibus. 
Vos  autem  greges  mei,  greges  pascuce  meee  homines  estis,  et  ego  Domi- 
uus  Deus  vester  elicit  Dominus  Deus. — Ezechiel,  xxxiv.  11, 13, 16, 25, 31. 


IN  North  America.  317 

selle  de  Taillefer.  Now  nearly  eiglit  hundred  of  tliese 
devoted  women  are  laboring  to  reclaim  their  mined 
sisters.  "We  are  touched,"  it  has  been  said  by  a 
certain  writer,  "  we  are  touched  by  the  derotion  of 
those  chaste  spouses  of  Christ,  who  have  consecrated 
themselves  to  education ;  of  those  who  deny  them- 
selves the  supreme  joy  of  motherhood,  to  become 
mothers  and  servants  of  the  orphan  poor.  "We  ven- 
erate those  who  have  made  themselves,  for  God's  sake, 
the  inseparable  companions  of  contagion  and  infec- 
tion ;  breathing,  as  it  were  by  predilection,  the  putrid 
miasms  of  the  hospital ;  cleansing  the  loathsome  ulcer, 
binding  up  the  bleeding  wound,  sustaining  feebleness, 
watching  over  idiocy  or  madness. 

"But  what  shall  we  think  of  those  religious  who 
choose  for  their  daily  companions  the  most  degraded 
of  their  sex,  so  as  to  win  those  poor  lost  sheep  back  to 
the  flock  and  fold  of  God  ?  What  shall  we  say  of  Vir- 
tue going  to  look  for  Yice,  of  Modesty  searching  out 
Eibaldry,  overcoming  the  mere  instincts  of  respecta- 
bility to  save  one  brand  from  the  burning,  one  immor- 
tal soul  from  hell,  for  the  love  of  that  eternal  King 
who  died  for  us  all  ?  Ah !  in  the  insufferable  wicked 
mockery  of  that  noblest  of  Enghsh  words,  '  loyalty,'  in 
the  midst  of  those  floods  of  trash  which  men  dare  to 
call,  now-a-days,  by  that  pure  and  Christian  and 
beautiful  name,  how  encouraging  to  him  who  has  eyes 
and  who  looks  out  of  them,  to  see  one  set  of  holy 
women,  if  that  were  all,  loyal  in  its  only  sense,  loyal  to 
their  King !" 


318  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mart 

I  do  not  know  whether  it  be  a  rule  of  this  Order  or 
not,  but  I  observe,  in  looking  over  the  lists  of  three  or 
four  institutions,  that  all  of  the  rehgious  are  named 
Mary.  They  have  been  in  the  United  States,  so  far  as 
I  can  discover,  since  1842. 

The  Ladies  of  Loretto  are  also  all  called  Mary ;  and 
I  beg  my  readers  particularly  to  note  these  little 
.points.  It  is  the  straw  which  shows  how  the  wind 
blows ;  in  breeze,  or  gale,  or  tornado  the  clay-bank 
stands  stupidly  steadfast.  So  many  of  these  Domini- 
cans, Lorettines,  Good  Shepherds,  Trappists,  Carmel- 
ites, are  all  called  Mary,  and  only  intellectual  obesity 
can  be  dull  to  the  influence  of  a  name.  The  Lorettines 
spoken  of  above  come  from  Dalkey  Abbey  in  L'eland, 
but  the  institute  originated  in  Bavaria  among  the  loyal 
British  exiles  who  had  taken  refuge  there  in  the  last  • 
struggle  of  the  Stuart.  In  North  America,  since  1845, 
they  are  discoverable  by  me  only  in  Toronto  and  at 
Niagara  Falls.  At  the  former  place  their  convent  is 
Imown  as  Our  Lady  of  Loretto,  at  the  FaUs  it  is  Our 
Lady  of  Peace.  The  grand  cataract  itself  has  been 
consecrated  by  his  lordship  Doctor  Lynch  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin  of  Peace,*  and  the  Holy  Father  has 
been  pleased  to  grant  the  privileges  of  pilgrimage  to 
this  convent. 

He  grants  a  plenary  indulgence  to  those  who,  after 
the  usual  preparation,  shall  receive  the  Most  Holy 

'  Kind  and  courteous  letter  from  V.  R.  Mr.  Northgraves,  October, 
1861. 


m  NoKTH  Amekica.  319 

Communion  and  pray  in  the  cliurcli  for  "  the  concord 
of  Christian  princes,  the  peaceful  triumph  of  Our  Holy 
Mother  the  Church,  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  and  the 
conversion  of  sinners."  "Pius,  PP.  IX.,  for  ever- 
lasting memory  of  the  fact : — It  has  been  shown  Us  by 
our  venerable  brother  John  Lynch,  now  Bishop  of 
Toronto,  that  he  intends  to  establish  a  pilgrimage  to 
the  Church  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  called  Our  Lady  of 
Peace,  situated  within  his  diocese  at  the  Falls  of 
Niagara.  "We  have  granted,  therefore,  to  the  pilgrims 
making  this  pilgrimage  the  indulgences  attached  to 
the  prescribed  and  annexed  prayers."  *  It  was  on  the 
Sunday  within  the  Octave  of  Our  Lady's  Ascension 
that  the  church  was  dedicated.  Hundreds  of  pilgrims, 
after  hearing  Mass  in  the  city  of  Toronto,  proceeded 
by  steamer  and  railway  to  the  shrine.  And  when  they 
came  back,  at  least  upon  the  steamer,  they  chanted, 
with  the  sublime,  perpetual  voice  of  the  cataract  for 
basso,  the  Vespers  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  After  which 
all  knelt;  with  their  faces  towards  Toronto,  in  adora- 
tion of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  thanking  the  Redeemer, 
there  present,  for  their  preservation  from  all  casualties 


'  Pius  P.  P.  IX.  ad  perpetuam  rei  memoriam.  Exponendum  nobis 
nuper  curavit  VenerabUis  Frater  Joannes  Lynch  hodieruiis  Episcopus 
Toruntinus  sibi  in  animo  esse  instituere  sacram  peregrinationem  ad 
ecclesiam  Beatse  Marias  Virginis,  cui  nomen  a  Pace,  sitam  ad  prseci- 
pites  lapsus  aquaruin  loci  "  Niagara"  qui  nominatur,  dictae  dicecesis. 
Enixas  ideo  pieces  Nobis  admovit  ut  pro  fidelibus  prsefatam  sacram 
peregrinationem,  peragentibus  caelestes  indulgentiarum  tbesanros  de 
beniguitate  Nostra  reserare  dignaremus." — die  1  Martii,  MDCC(/LXI 
PontiScatus  uostri  anno  decinioquinto. 


320  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

dviring  tliat,  tlie  first  pilgrimage  to  Our  Lady  of 
Peace. 

And  now  from  Our  Lady  of  Peace,  riding  down  tlie 
shore  and  past  the  tower  where  swing  the  inter- 
wreathed  crosses  of  Saint  Andrew  and  Saint  George, 
we  may  cross  the  bridge  and  stand,  in  view  of  the  star- 
spangled  banner,  near  Our  Lady  of  the  Cataract  and 
the  Seminary  of  Our  Lady  of  Angels.  Not  to  delay, 
but  to  hurry  eastward,  by  a  little  south,  through  the 
land  of  the  old  L-oquois  Missions,  of  Jogues  and  Gou- 
pil's  martyrdom,  of  Tegahkouita's  and  Garacontie's 
birth ;  past  Saint  Mary's  church  at  Medina,  the  Na- 
tivity of  the  Blessed  Virgin  at  Brockport,  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  at  Bochester,  the  Assumption  at  Syra- 
cuse, the  Visitation  at  Saratoga,  to  the  handsome 
Gothic  heights  of  the  Cathedral  of  the  Lnmaculate 
Conception  in  Albany,  once  the  metroiDolis  of  antique 
Dutchmen. 

Then  down  the  grand  Hudson,  through  the  flat  lands 
which  won  the  Batavian  heart  So  many  years  ago, 
through  the  majestic  Highlands,  over  the  sparkling 
river.  "We  touch  our  hats  as  we  pass  Saint  Mary's  of 
Hudson,  Saugerties,  Poughkeepsie,  and  New  Ham- 
burg ;  Our  Lady  of  Loretto  at  Cold  Spring ;  Immacu- 
late Conception  at  Port  Jervis  ;  Our  Lady  of  Mercy  at 
Portchester ;  Immaculate  Conception  at  Melrose  ;  the 
Church  of  the  Madonna  at  Port  Lee  ;  and  then,  land- 
ing at  Hoboken,  within  sight  of  the  tall  commanding 
pile  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  in  Jersey  City, 
across  Harsimus  Bay,  we  linger  in  Hoboken  to  say  a 


IN  NoETH  America.  321 

prayer  or  twain  at  the  shrines  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy 
and  Our  Lady  of  Grace  in  Hoboken. 

While  the  energetic  and  devoted  Father  Cauvin  was 
building  the  church  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy,  a  pious 
layman  was  providing  an  altar-piece  in  Eome.  It  was 
an  accident,  a  chance,  a  providence,  which  you  will. 
But  the  facts  are  these.  When  Father  Cauvin  wrote 
to  his  friend  and  protector,  Cardinal  Brignole,  for  an 
altar-piece,  he  received  an  immediate  reply.  Some 
time  before,  the  Signor  Paci-Ippoliti  had  caused  a 
copy  of  the  Madonna  delta  Misericordia  of  Eimini  to  be 
made,  and  had  begged  the  cardinal  to  present  it  to 
some  American  mission.  Mr.  Cauvin's  letter  followed 
closely  on  this,  and  West  Hoboken  received  the  pic- 
ture. It  gave  to  the  church  its  title,  as  you  may  see, 
if  you  like,  above  the  great  door,  where  the  inscription 
reads  thus : 

MATER  MISERICORDIA. 

Mother  of  Grace,  0  Mary,  hear ! 
Mother  of  Mercy,  lend  thine  ear ! 
From  raging  foes  our  souls  defen  , 
And  take  us  when  our  life  shall  end. 

The  dedication  of  the  church  was  a  solemn  one  :  the 
preacher  was  His  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  New  York, 
and  a  large  attendance  of  clergy  and  devout  laity 
thronged  the  aisles.  The  painting,  covered  with  a 
curtain,  was  above  the  altar,  and  when  it  was  with- 
drawn, and  the  Ave  Maria  rang  forth  from  the  choir, 
aU  fell  upon  their  knees  and  joined  in  that  beautiful 
w  14* 


322  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  IVIaey 

prayer  to  Our  Lady  of  Mercy.'  But  the  gi'eatest 
honor  paid  to  her  was  that  which  came  across  the  sea 
from  Italy — the  fervently  faithful  devotion  of  the  truly 
Itahan  Cathohc  heart  of  Signor  Ippoliti.  From  the 
moment  he  was  told  that  his  picture  had  found  its 
mission-home,  he  wrote  to  Father  Cauvin  that  he  be- 
gan to  place  unhmited  confidence  in  Our  Lady  of 
Mercy,  through  the  prayers  of  the  devout  people  of 
the  parish.  And  then  he  tells  how,  on  the  thirtieth  of 
January,  1853,  he  was  engaged  in  certain  experiments 
with  gunpowder.  He  thought,  liappened  to  think,  he 
says,  of  the  church  in  Hoboken,  and  recommended 
himself  particularly  to  the  care  of  Our  Lady  as  vener- 
ated there,  just  as  he  entered  the  narrow  and  close 
room  which  was  the  scene  of  his  experiments. 

He  had  a  very  large  quantity  of  powder  there,  when 
he  went  in,  "  giving  liimseK  up  to  Mary  with  the  same 
fiUal  confidence  as  a  child's,  when  it  throws  itself  into 
its  mother's  arms.'"*  In  a  few  moments  the  whole  in- 
flammable mass  had  exploded  about  his  head  and  face. 
The  windows  and  doors  of  the  room  Vv^ere  shattered  to 
pieces,  the  whole  house  was  shaken,  but,  as  he  says, 
"  by  the  mercy  of  God  and  his  blessed  Mother,"  the 
servant  of  Mary  was  uninjured.  The  same  year,  in 
gi'atitude  for  his  preservation,  he  leaves  a  foundation 
in  perpetuum  to  the  church  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy. 
When  the  Passionist  Fathers  were  sent  there  by  the 

1  Courrier  des  Etats-Unis,  November  27,  1853 ;  Freeman's  Journal, 
same  date. 

2  Letter  from  Signor  Ippoliti,  August,  1853. 


I 


m  NoKTH  America.  323 

Orclinaiy,  Father  Cauvin  resigned  his  pastorate  to 
them,  and  moving  eastward  into  the  midst  of  the  town, 
founded  there  the  church  of  Our  Lady  of  Grace. 

There  the  pilgrim,  for  these  are  all  pilgrimages,  will 
find  an  exquisitely  fine  copy  of  that  Madonna  of 
Bafael's  which  is  known  as  del  Foligno;  that  one 
where  you  see  Our  Lady,  with  her  divine  eternal  Son 
in  her  arms,  surrounded  by  cherubic  heads  of  extreme 
finish  and  beauty.  Below  stand  or  kneel  Saint  John 
the  Baptist,  Saint  Augustine,  Saint  Benedict,  and  Saint 
Francis  of  Assisium.  In  the  centre  a  cherub  holds  an 
uniuscribed  tablet.  This  is  the  grand  picture,  the 
altar-piece  as  we  may  say,  of  the  Church  of  Our  Lady 
of  Grace ;  and  outside,  over  the  great  door,  is  set  a 
tablet  bearing  this  inscription  : 

GEATIAEUM  VIEGINI. 

And  here  the  pilgrims  are  frequent  and  numerous. 
Some  thirty  ex  votos,  in  gratitude  for  graces,  cures,  or 
conversions  obtained  by  her  intercession,  already  hang 
at  the  altar  of  the  Sacred  Patroness.  What  is  said  to 
be  a  rehc  of  her  veil  is  piously  preserved  in  the  church, 
and  the  Papal  benediction  is  by  especial  permission 
imparted  each  year  on  the  feast  of  the  Eosary. 

His  lordship  the  Bishop  of  New  Jersey  testified  his 
veneration  for  the  shrine  by  solemnly  crowning  the 
picture ;  hoping,  by  that  act  of  honor  and  veneration 
to  our  blessed  Lady,  to  increase  the  devotion  of  the 
faithful  to  the  Mother  of  Grace,  and  to  consecrate  a 
shrine  full  of  invitation  to  the  needy  and  the  sorrowful. 


324  Devotion  to  the  B..  V.  Maey 

There  is  a  large  number  of  pictures  of  unusual  merit 
in  the  church,  notably,  those  of  Our  Lady  of  Grace 
(del  Foligno),  Our  Lady  of  Sorrows,  and  Our  Lady  of 
the  Eosary.  An  immense  assemblage  attended  to  do 
honor' to  the  sacred  Lady  of  the  day,  and  one  among 
them,  Madame  Pychowski,  sang  this  hymn  in  honor  of 
the  festival : 

Mother  dearest,  mother  fairest, 
Virgin  brightest,  purest,  rarest, 

Lady  mild  and  sweet ; 
Hear  the  grateful  songs  we  sing  thee. 
Hear  th-e  hymns  we  humbly  bring  thee, 

Bending  at  thy  feet  1 

Gate  of  Heaven,  Star  of  Morning ! 
Lo,  the  votive  gifts  adorning 

This,  thy  favored  shrine  I 
All  the  wondrous  story  telling. 
Of  thy  mercy  with  us  dwelling, 

Mother  of  Grace  divine  1 

In  our  need  upon  thee  calling. 

Thou  hast  saved  from  death  appalling, 

Heard  thy  children's  prayer  ; 
Heard  our  cry  amid  the  dashing 
Of  life's  waves,  our  frail  barks  lashing, 

Granting  us  thy  care  I 

Mother-arm,  thy  Son  infolding. 
Mother-heart,  within  thine  holding 

All  who  turn  to  thee ; — 
StiU  thy  kind  protection  lending. 
Let  thy  love  on  us  descending, 

Our  sweet  comfort  be  1 

While  our  souls  to  thee  uplifting. 
We  seek  peace  amid  the  drifting, 
Darkening  storms  of  earth. 


IN  NoETH  Amekioa.  325 

Hmnblest  Virgin !  Queen  of  Heaven ! 
Unto  thee  be  honor  given, 
Honor  due  thy  worth  I 

Joyfully  this  gift  we  proffer. 
Humbly  this  fair  crown  we  offer, 

Deign  on  us  to  smile  1 
Mother  of  Grace,  with  heart's  o'erflowing. 
Thus  our  grateful  love  we're  showing — 

Bending  low  the  while  I 

Ages  past  have  known  thy  glory. 
Mighty  kings  and  prophets  hoary 

Sung  thy  starry  crown  ! 
Blessings,  honors,  clear  foretelling. 
Lauding  thee  as  all  excelling. 

Shadowing  forth  thy  throne  I 

Israel  in  thee  rejoices, 
Salem  lifts  her  myriad  voices. 

Quivering  with  thy  love  ! 
Queen  of  Angels !  Bride  of  Heaven  I 
Mediatrix  to  us  given  I 

Undefiled  dove  1 

East  and  West  unite  to  praise  thee, 

North  and  South  their  hymns  still  raise  thee. 

Blessed  in  every  land  1 
Hosts  angelic  join  with  mortals, 
Far  within  the  starry  portals. 

Where  the  seraphs  stand ! — 

Where  amid  the  wide  creation, 
Holding  foremost  rank  and  station, 

Christ's  dear  Mother's  seen. 
List  the  glorious  strains  ascending. 
Heaven  and  Earth,  their  voices  blending, 

Hail  thee,  Crowned  Queen  1 

Sweep    northward    again,   to    our  venerable    early 
friend,  Oiu-  Ladj  of  Good  Help.     This  ends  the  pil- 


326  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

grimages  known  to  us  on  this  continent,  as  it  began 
tliem.  It  is  witli  a  document  of  remarkable  devotion 
to  Mary  that  we  close  this  chapter.  It  is  the  pastoral 
of  Monseigneur  Bourget,  bishop  of  Montreal. 


PASTOKAL 

Of  MONSEIGNEtTR    THE  BiSHOP  OF  MONTREAL,  TO  ENCOURAGE  THE 
PrLGREMCAGE  OF  NOTRE  DaME  DE  BoN  SeCOURS,  AKD  TO  ESTABLISH 

IN  THAT  Chapel  the  Confraternitt  of  Our  Lady  of  Good 
Help  for  the  whole  Diocese, 

Ignace  Bourget,  by  the  mercy  of  God  and  the  favor 
of  the  Holy  Apostolic  See,  Bishop  of  Montreal,  etc., 

etc.,  etc. 

To  the  Clergy,  secular  and  regular,  to  the  Eeligious 
Communities,  and  to  all  the  Faithful  of  our  Diocese, 
Health  and  Benediction  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

You  have  not  forgotten,  dearest  brethren,  that  on 
the  thirteenth  of  last  August  we  publicly  bound  our- 
selves by  vow  to  do  our  utmost  to  re-estabhsh  the 
pious  Pilgrimage  of  Our  Lady  of  Good  Help,  which, 
by  our  indifference  and  the  evil  of  the  times,  had 
ceased  to  be  frequented  as  it  once  was. 

In  making  this  vow  we  sought  to  erect  a  barrier 
against  the  terrible  epidemic  which  was  making  fright- 
ful ravages  at  the  gates  of  our  city,  and  which  every 
day  overleaped  the  limits  within  which  men  strove  to 
keep  it,  to  smite  its  victims  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
to^\Ti.  In  this  we  only  imitated  the  good  example  of 
our  fathers,  for  whom  this  holy  chapel  was,  from  im- 


IN  North  America.  827 

memorial  time,  a  certain  refuge  in  great  calamity. 
P aires  nosfri  narraverunt  nobis .^ 

We  had  long  groaned  in  secret  to  see  tlie  venerable 
Chapel  of  Good  Help  almost  deserted.  We  could  al- 
most apply  to  it  the  words  wherewith  Jeremiah  ex- 
pressed the  just  grief  which  overwhelmed  him  when  he 
saw  the  holy  temple  abandoned  and  the  august  solem- 
nities neglected  :  "  The  ways  of  Zion  do  mourn,  be- 
cause there  are  none  who  come  to  her  solemn  festi- 
vals.'"- 

In  fact,  we  no  longer  saw,  as  in  our  fathers'  days, 
crowds  of  pious  pilgrims,  moving  in  the  evening,  when 
the  toils  of  the  day  were  doue,  towards  the  cherished 
sanctuary  to  thank  our  august  Lady  of  Good  Help  for 
the  graces  obtained  by  her  mighty  intercession,  and  to 
ask  for  new  ones.  Except  during  low  Mass,  none  were 
seen  there  at  prayer  during  the  day ;  so  that  it  be- 
came necessary  to  keep  the  doors  closed,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent the  sacrilegious  thefts  committed  there.  But  this 
state  of  abandonment  had  something  in  it  sinister  to 
our  eyes.  Without  wishing  to  examine  too  closely  the 
secret  judgments  of  God,  it  seemed  to  us  that  such  an 
indifference  must,  sooner  or  later,  draw  misfortune 
upon  us.  History  and  our  own  recollections  inspired 
us  with  just  fear.  You  yourselves  know  the  great 
calamities  which  desolated  this  city  and  country  after 


'  Our  fathers  have  told  us. — Psalm  xliii.  1. 

-  Viae  Zion  lugent  eo  quod  non  sint  qui  veniant  ad  solemnitatem.— 
Lamentations,  i.  4. 


328.  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

the  fire  of  1754,  wliicli  reduced  to  ashes  the  second 
chapel  of  Bon  Secours.  Tou  have  not  forgotten  that, 
in  1831,  a  profane  hand  carried  off  the  statue  so  vene- 
rated by  our  fathers,  and  which  had  escaped  the  dev- 
astating flames.  Ah,  since  that  day,  how  many  ills 
have  come  upon  us ! 

The  terrible  pohtical  agitations  which  shed  the  blood 
of  citizens  in  the  streets  of  the  city  on  the  21st  of  May, 
1832 ;  the  dreadful  cholera  which  aj)peared  on  the  8th 
of  June  of  the  same  year  and  decimated  our  popula- 
tion ;  the  same  epidemic  which  returned  in  1834, 
spreading  everywhere  desolation  and  death ;  the 
troubles  of  1837  and  '38,  which  caused  so  many  tears 
to  flow,  and  covered  the  land  with  sorrow  and  ruin; 
the  milhons  of  insects  which  for  so  many  years  have 
desolated  our  country,  and  ruined  the  commerce  of  the 
city  with  the  hopes  of  the  husbandman ;  aU  these  are 
too  near  you,  have  left  too  profound  traces  to  be  for- 
gotten yet.  Finally,  last  year,  we  were  exposed  to  a 
new  plague,  which  threatened  at  every  moment  to  in- 
vade both  country  and  town.'  Those  whom  duty  car- 
ried to  the  field  of  that  affliction,  to  reheve  that 
wretchedness,  were  nearly  all  attacked  by  the  disease, 
and  many  fell.  But  we  desire  not  to  reopen  your 
wounds,  still  bleeding,  by  recalling  your  sufferings  and 
your  misfortunes.  Occupied  solely  with  the  means  of 
appeasing  Heaven,  and  of  preserving  you  from  the  ills 
which  have  fallen  upon  your  clergy  and  the  rehgious 


»  The  sMp-fever  of  1847. 


IN  North  America.  329 

communities,  we  were  struck  with  the  thought  that  Our 
Ladj  of  Good  Help,  so  compassionate  towards  our 
fathers  in  all  their  misfortunes,  would  have  pitj  upon 
us,  and  obtain  for  us  grace  and  mercy.  Then  we  made 
a  vow,  at  first  in  our  own  secret  heart ;  then  in  the 
presence  of  this  diocese  we  formed  the  solemn  engage- 
ment to  do  what  in  our  power  lay  to  restore  to  the 
pilgrimage  of  Bon  Secoiirs  all  its  solemnity.  We  need 
not  teU  you  here  that  Mary  heard  the  vow  and  granted 
our  prayer.  How  could  she  do  otherwise  when  she 
beheld  herself  surrounded,  as  aforetime,  by  a  multitude 
of  devout  servants ;  when  she  heard  her  sanctuary  re- 
echoing with  plaint  and  moan ;  when,  throughout  the 
whole  Octave  of  her  glorious  Assumption,  the  throngs 
of  sad  pilgrims  crowded  the  venerable  shrine  ? 

By  hearing  our  prayer  thus  in  her  Chapel  of  Good 
Help,  Mary  has  caused  us  to  know  that  to-day,  as  long 
ago,  she  wishes  to  be  especially  honored  in  this  tem- 
ple ;  that  this  sanctuary  must  be  for  us,  as  for  our 
fathers,  an  asylum  in  great  calamities ;  that  this  chapel 
was  indeed  the  throne  from  which  she  bestowed  her 
pity  in  those  terrible  days  when  the  hand  of  rigorous 
justice  lay  heavy  upon  us  poor  children  of  Adam.  It 
is  then  at  the  close  of  such  favors,  at  the  end  of  the 
month  all  consecrated  to  her  honor,  that  we  undertake 
to  perform  a  duty  so  agreeable  to  our  heart,  and  dic- 
tated, moreover,  by  a  vivid  gratitude.  We  would  be 
the  most  ungrateful  of  men,  indeed,  and  our  tongue 
should  cleave  to  the  roof  of  our  mouth,  if  we  were  to 
forget  that  we   owe  to  your  fervent  prayers  in  the 


330  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

cLapel  of  Bon  Secoui-s  the  healtli  we  enjoy  to-claj. 
May  we  consecrate  it  wholly  to  the  glory  of  Mary  and 
the  sanctification  of  your  souls  ! 

"We  exhort  you  then,  brethren,  to  make  often  and 
with  devotion  the  pious  pilgrimage  of  Our  Lady  of 
Good  Help.     It  is  for  the  greater  honor  of  Mary,  the 
greater  good  of  your  souls,  and  the  acquittal  of  our 
conscience   that  we  invite  you  to  hft  up  your  eyes 
towards  that  place  from  whence  we  may  expect  such 
powerful  aid.     For  we  are  convinced  that  this  chapel 
is  one  of  those  privileged  spots  where  God  is  pleased 
to  show  His  great  mercy  through  the  intercession  of 
Mary.     .     .     .     This  pilgrimage  commenced  with  the 
settlement  of  the  country.     Three  churches  have  risen 
from  the  corner-stone  laid  in  1657,  despite  the  many 
misfortunes  of   our  country;  proof   that  our  fathers 
felt  keenly  the  need  of  such  a  sanctuary.     On  its  fi'ont 
is  carved  the  august  name  of  Mary,  and  the  heart's 
gratitude  rather  than  the  workman's  chisel  has  en- 
graved her  sacred  monogram.     It  is  there  to  say  to 
the  ages  to  come  that  Montreal  in  its  greatest  calami- 
ties must  never  lack  confidence  in  that  powerful  name. 
Maria,   0  nomen  sub  quo  nemini  desperandum  est  (St. 
Augustine).     Tou  read  over  the  doorway  the  simple 
and  noble  inscription,  3Iaria,  auxilium  Christianorum. 
Mary,  help  of  Christians.     That  was  our  fathers'  cry 
of   confidence  in   all  the  trials  wherewith  it  pleased 
Divine  Providence  to  visit  them ;  such  was  their  sole 
resource  when  total  ruin  threatened  them.     Bead  it,  O 
Montreal,  with  joy  and  happiness;  for  thy  destinies 


IN  NoETH  America.  331 

are  great,  if  ihj  confidence  in  Mary  correspond  to  the 
expectation  of  them  that  founded  thee.  Make  thjseK 
worthy-  to  take  again,  and  to  wear  forever,  the  glorious 
name  of  Ville-Maeie. 

That  nothing  may  be  wanting  to  the  holy  chapel  of 
Good  Help,  that  may  win  your  confidence,  we  propose 
to  estabhsh  the  pious  confi-aternity  of  Our  Lady  of 
Good  Help  in  that  yenerable  parish,  and  hoi3e  that  all 
the  parishes  of  this  diocese  will  unite  with  it.  By 
such  an  institution  we  shall  erect  a  durable  monument 
to  the  piety  of  our  fathers,  for  when  they  formed  the 
generous  resolution  of  coming  to  the  New  World,  and 
there  to  found  in  honor  of  the  Blessed  Mary  the  city 
wherein  we  dwell,  th«y  formed  an  association  which 
they  called  "  Society  of  Our  Lady  of  Montreal  for  the 
conversion  of  the  Indians."  Now,  in  place  of  a  hand- 
ful of  associates  enrolled  to  pray  for  the  conversion 
and  civilization  of  the  red-man,  we  trust  that  thousands 
will  gather  beneath  the  glorious  standard  of  Our  Lady 
of  Good  Help,  to  implore  her  mighty  intercession  for 
the  destruction  of  error  and  vice,  more  particularly  of 
drunkenness  and  impurity,  which  ruin  body  and  soul, 
and  render  their  victims  wretched  both  in  time  and  in 
eternity. 

Once  the  pious  region  of  Chartres'  saw  one  hundred 
and  nine  churches  or  chapels  dedicated  to  Mary,  and 
all  springing  from  the  famous  church  of  Notre  Dame 
de  Chartres.     So  many  monuments  proved  that  the 


'  See  for  Chartres  and  its  connection  with  our  Missions,  pp. 


332  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

Tenerable  town  was  indeed,  as  in  name,  the  city  of  tlie 
Blessed  Virgin.  Its  legend  is  Quce  est  Carnutensium 
tutela?  3Iaria,  Mater  Gratice,  Mater  Miser icor dice.' 
Long  ago  a  writer  said  that  "  all  Chartres  resounded 
with  the  name  of  Mary;"'  and  we,  bound  to  that 
antique  shrine  by  ancient  association  of  prayers,  will 
follow  its  example  and  participate  in  its  privileges  by 
means  of  our  new  confraternity.  For  each  parochial 
society  wUl  be  a  living  church  issuing  from  the  mother- 
church  of  Good  Help.  Ah,  brethren,  believe  me,  there 
can  never  be  too  many  sanctuaries  for  prayer  and 
expiation,  nor  too  many  shelters  for  virtue  and  peni- 
tence. Then  let  us  strive  to  preserve  fi'esh  on  our  city 
and  diocese  the  stamp  of  reUgion  imprinted  by  two 
hundred  years  of  faith  and  piety. 

And  now  to  preserve  the  precious  souvenirs  which 
should  attach  you  to  Our  Lady  of  Good  Help.  We 
purpose,  on  the  twenty-first  of  this  month  (May),  to 
erect  a  statue  which  shall  replace  that  which  a  sacri- 
legious hand  stole  from  the  shrine  in  1831.  May  it, 
like  the  ancient  one,'  be  the  instrument  of  Mary's 
mercy.  It  has  been  solemnly  blessed  at  Notre  Dame 
des  Victoires  in  Paris,  that  sanctuary  whence  flow  so 
many  graces  to  water  all  the  lands.  Let  us  trust  then 
that  it  is  filled  with  heavenly  benediction,  given  it  at 
the  altar   of   the  Holy  Immaculate  Heart  of   Mary, 

»  Who  is  tlie  guardian  of  Chartres?    Mary,  Mother  of  Grace  and 
Mother  of  Mercy. 

*  Camutum  ubi  omnia  Mariam  sonant. 
3  For  description,  see  this  work,  p.  217. 


EST  North  America.  333 

powerful  to  aid  poor  sinners  and  lift  tliem  from  tlieir 
wi-etchedness.  To  render  it  still  dearer  to  your  hearts 
and  worthier  of  your  confidence,  we  shall  crown  it 
with  aU  that  solemn  pomp  of  ceremony  observed  in 
Kome,  where  are  pointed  out  to  the  especial  doTotion 
of  the  people  such  sacred  images  of  the  Blessed  Vir- 
gin as  God  has  pleased  to  make  the  instrument  of  His 
gracious  favor.  Our  gratitude  forbids  us  to  forget 
how,  last  year,  the  supphcations  offered  in  the  chapel 
of  Our  Lady  of  Good  Help  delivered  both  town  and 
country  from  the  terrible  pestilence.  In  the  same  view 
we  shall  place  in  the  chapel  a  painting  representing 
the  glorious  Virgin  Mary  arresting  the  typhus  at  the 
gates  of  this  her  city. 

O  people  of  Montreal,  who  possess  in  your  midst  so 
venerable  a  sanctuary,  visit  it  assiduously ;  go  hear  a 
Mass  there  on  your  way  to  your  daily  occupations; 
stop  there  and  give  thanks  for  a  moment  when  the 
labors  of  the  day  shall  be  ended ;  never  pass  it  without 
saluting  Mary.  Kead  the  new  inscription  above  the 
doorway  and  obey  it. 

"  Si  ramour  de  Marie 
En  ton  cceur  est  grave. 
En  passant,  ne  t'oublie 
De  lui  dire  un  Ave." 

Pause,  if  the  love  of  Mary 

Be  graven  on  thy  heart. 
And  breathe  one  fervent  Ave 

Ere  thou  depart. 

Go  thither,  ye  dwellers  in  the  peaceful  country, 


334  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

wlien  duty  calls  you  into  town.  Sliow  your  needs 
witli  filial  confidence  to  Our  Lady  of  Good  Help. 
Kecommend  your  occupations  to  her  Tigilance.  Beg 
of  her  the  grace  of  going  home  with  an  unsullied  inno- 
cence. Your  market  is  under  the  eyes,  as  it  were,  of 
Mary,  Help  of  Christians.  Keep  strictly,  then,  the 
laws  of  sobriety,  justice,  and  piety.  Then  back  in 
peace  to  your  pleasant  homes, — and  may  none  of  you 
be  met  drunk  upon  the  road. 

Thither,  ye  pious  mariners  and  boatmen  who  risk 
your  hves  on  that  vast  stream  which  roUs  majestically 
at  the  foot  of  Our  Lady  of  Good  Help,  as  if  to  invite 
you  to  seek  her  shrine  before  you  quit  the  harbor, 
after  you  enter  it  in  safety.  Look  lovingly  on  the 
sacred  chapel  each  time  you  pass  it.  In  danger  re- 
gard that  Star  of  the  Sea,  and  call  on  Mary  "Besjyice 
Stellam :  voca  3Iariam."  For  you  is  it  that  we  place 
upon  the  river-front  of  the  shrine  a  statue.  Inscribed 
over  the  head  you  shall  read :  "  Marianopolis  Tidela, 
Protectress  of  Ville-Marie ;"  and  at  the  feet,  "Posuerunt 
me  custodem,  they  have  made  me  their  guardian."  So 
shall  we  show  to  the  future  that  Mary  is  the  Patroness 
and  Mother  of  Montreal,  city  and  diocese.  These  deeds 
shall  fill  us  with  confidence  in  her  help.  These  shall 
make  us  love  her  shrine,  and  frequent  it  with  great 
devotion.  "Quam  dileda  tahernacida  tua;  siantes  erunf 
pedes  nostri  in  atriis  tins.  How  lovely  is  ihy  dwelling- 
place  ;  our  feet  shall  tread  in  the  courts  of  thine 
abode." 

Therefore,  with  the  consentient  advice  of  our  vener- 


IN  North  America.  335 

able  canons,  and  in  the  most  holy  name  of  God,  we 
order,  that  the  twenty-fonrth  of  May  be  kept  as  Titu- 
lar Feast  of  Our  Lady  of  Good  Help,  with  Octave : 
that  the  Feast  of  our  Lady's  Assumption  be  the 
patronal  festival:  that,  by  Indult  of  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff,  the  Confraternity  of  Our  Lady  of  Help  be  and 
remain  established.  "We  authorize  the  Sulpician  clergy 
to  establish  such  office,  and  exercises  for  the  chapel 
and  for  the  pilgrimage  thitherward,  as  they  deem 
meet.  In  recitation  or  chanting  of  the  Litany  of  the 
Blessed  Yirgin,  the  invocation  '' Aitxilium  Christia- 
norum"  shall  be  thrice  said  or  sung.  .  We  grant  forty 
days  of  indulgence  to  all  who  say  with  confidence, 
"Maria,  Auxilmm  Christianorum,  ora  pro  popuh,  inter- 
veni  pro  dero,  Mary,  Help  of  Christians,  pray  for  the 
people,  intercede  for  their  clergy."  These  are  the 
words  which  form  the  inscription  of  the  chapel ;  they 
are  written  on  the  base  of  the  statue ;  they  are  to  be 
the  expression  of  trust,  the  rallying  cry  of  Our  Lady 
of  Good  Help. 

Such,  Mary,  are  the  measures  which  we  venture  to 
take  to-day  to  honor  thee  in  the  good  old  chapel  of 
Bon  Secours.  It  is  little  for  thee  who  hast  merited 
such  honors  from  earth  and  Heaven ;  still,  deign  to 
bless  and  to  accept  them.  And  now,  O  Blessed  Mary, 
be  pleased  from  thy  sanctuary  to  watch  over  this  city 
and  this  diocese.  They  belong  to  thee,  they  have 
been  particularly  consecrated  to  thee.  Kemember 
that  Bon  Secours  is  the  first  shrine  of  this  town  which 
in  Our  youth  heard  Our  supplications,  and  that  thou 


336  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

hast  cliosen  Us  to  goyern,  under  tliy  protection  and 
guidance,  this  diocese.  The  work  done  here  is  thine, 
not  Ours.  And  as  we  see  the  risk  of  losing  our- 
selves and  the  dear  flock  to  Us  intrusted,  we  cry  to 
thee  and  say,  "Vitam  prcesta  puram:  iter  i^ara  tutum. 
Give  us  purity  and  innocence  of  life  :  show  us  the 
road  of  perfection."  Let  not  so  many  souls,  to 
Us  intrusted,  perish  by  neglect  or  inexperience  of 
Ours.  But  obtain  that  we  may  all  find  Ourselves  to- 
gether in  that  Eternal  Temple,  there  forever  to  con- 
template Jesus,  thy  divine  Son,  and  to  rejoice  with 
thee  evermore. 

"Mgnatius,  Bishop  of  Montreal. 

Guess,  then,  pious  reader,  how  the  hearts  of  our  dear 
old  fi'iends,  Marguerite  Bourgeoys,  and  her  Congre- 
gation of  Notre  Dame,  must  have  rejoiced  at  the  read- 
ing of  this  pastoral.  On  that  same  twenty-fourth  of 
May,  the  whole  Community  of  Sisters,  novices,  and 
pupils,  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  ancient  shrine,  and 
there  solemnly  renewed  their  consecration  to  Mary  of 
Good  Help.  As  a  symbol  of  their  devotion,  they 
ojBfered  to  her  a  heart  wrought  in  silver.  It  was  borne, 
upon  a  cushion  of  blue  silk,  by  the  president  of  the 
Children  of  Mary,  and  four  little  girls  held  ribbons,  as 
you  see  the  banner-cords  held  in  the  procession.  The 
five  were  the  representatives  of  the  Children,  while  the 
Mother  Superior,  her  assistant,  and  the  mistress  of  the 
novices,  renewed  their  self-offering  in  the  name  of  all 
the  rehgious.     The  heart  was  placed  in  the  bishop's 


m  North  America.  337 

hands,  and  lie,  after  celebrating  High  Mass  and  mak- 
ing them  a  paternal  address,  presented  their  humble 
offering  to  that  good  and  gentle  Mother,  to  whom 
nothing  is  small  if  only  offered  in  love. 
X  15 


338  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mart 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Gille-Maiei  nak  Gael. — Malik  Teba  Wanbanakki  Alnambak. 

Before  returning  to  the  United  States,  by  way  of 
tracing  the  course  of  our  devotion  by  missionary  men, 
let  us  pass  from  Montreal  out  to  Arichat  and  Antigo- 
nish,  where  the  wild  Hebridean  dwells  by  his  native 
sea.  The  sea,  at  least,  his ;  free  as  himself ;  his  own 
sea ;  because  it  is  God's,  because  Beannaichte  Mairi  is 
its  Star  ;  and  because  he  is  God's  and  Mary's.  From 
the  land  to  which  lona  belongs ;  where  the  so-called 
Protestants  still  bless  themselves  with  the  sign  of  the 
Cross,  and  take  off  their  bonnets  and  say  a  prayer  in 
the  ancient  churchyard  of  Saint  Columba  and  Saint 
Aidan,  on  AU  Souls'  Day. 

Now,  in  the  diocese  of  Arichat  alone,  which  forms 
the  eastern  portion  of  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia, 
about  thirty-five  thousand  Highland  Catholics  have 
found  a  new  sea-kissed,  sea-nurtured  home.  On  these, 
some  Indian  Missions,  containing  fifteen  hundred  sav- 
ages, so  called,  depend.  They  can  abide  together,  for 
with  both,  silence  amid  torture  is  a  native  quality,  be 
it  good  or  bad.  They  have  no  poets  who  sing  perpet- 
ually of  their  wrongs ;  no  political  orators  to  "  hawk 
their  sores  through  the  world."  They  suffer  and  re- 
member. The  sword  of  their  indomitable  spirit  never 
left  their  hand  tiU  1745,  when  both  blade  and  clutched 


m  North  America.  339 

hand  were  cruslied  by  tlie  united  power  of  Saxon  and 
Southern  Celt.  From  the  misty  isles,  and  from  the 
straths,  glens,  and  mountains  of  Invernesshire,  Eoss, 
and  Argyleshire,  come  nearly  all  of  this  silent  High- 
land folk.  From  Lochaber,  synonjmu  for  an  exile's 
wail ;  from  Glengarry  and  Arisaig,  from  Knoydart, 
and  Morar,  and  Stradthglas  ;  from  the  wave-beaten 
isles  of  Eigg  and  Kanna  and  Uist.  When  the  unfor- 
tunate apostasy  of  many  of  the  chiefs  was  known,  it 
became  the  choice  of  these  clansmen  to  renounce  alle- 
giance either  to  Him  who  had  given  them  those  chiefs, 
or  to  them  who  were  His  representatives. 

They  hesitated  long,  and  they  suffered  bitterly,  but 
they  chose  the  God  of  their  chiefs'  fathers,  and  of  their 
own  ;  "  they  preferred,"  says  a  venerable  bishop,  one 
of  themselves,  "they  preferred  expatriation,  exile,  and 
perpetual  banishment  from  their  hills  and  glens.  Un- 
der the  protection  of  Heaven,  and  with  fihal  invocation 
of  the  sacred  name  of  Mary,  they  committed  them- 
selves to  the  wild  ocean.'  Led  by  God's  hand,  they 
reached  Prince  Edward's  Island  and  Upper  Canada, 
and  now  the  Scottish  Highland  Catholic  population  of 
the  North  American  provinces  surpasses  one  hundred 
thousand."  A  single  diocese,  Arichat,  numbers  twenty 
priests  of  the  Clanne  nan  Gael.  Inwards  of  the  brine- 
nursed  strand  of  that  sea,  their  count  will  be  some 
thirty  or  forty  more.     The  counties  of  Glengarry  and 


1  Letter  from  his  lordship,  Rt.  Rev.  Colin  Francis  Mackinnon,  bishop 
of  Axichat. 


340  Devotion  to  B.  Y.  Mary 

Stormont  on  the  Saint  Lawrence,  are  all  Catholic  Gael, 
and  from  some  one  of  these  came  the  crook  used  in  one 
of  his  latest  ministrations  bj  the  venerable  A.  M.  F.  de 
Charbonnel,  umquhile  Bishop  of  Toronto. 

When  King  Robert  the  Bruce,  indomitable  after 
thirteen  defeats,  met  his  crisis  and  his  crown  on  Ban- 
nockburn,  this  crook  first  threw  its  silver  light  outside 
of  the  Abbey  of  Aberdeen.  It  was  of  chased  silver, 
and  inclosed  the  bone  of  the  right  arm  of  St.  Aidan, 
monk  of  lona  and  abbot  of  Lindisfarne.  It  v/as  on  the 
feast  of  Saint  John  the  Baptist,  1313,  "when  King 
Bobert  drew  his  army  up  about  a  moat  and  ordered 
that  all  should  confess  their  sins  and  receive  the 
Blessed  Sacrament.  And  then  Mauritius,  abbot  of 
Aberdeen,  said  Mass  for  the  king  and  his  chief  nobles  ; 
and  bishops  and  priests  celebrated  throughout  the 
army.  Then,  after  the  king's  exhortation,  as  the  En- 
glish army  came  near,  "  the  whole  Scots  army  fell 
down  upon  their  knees  to  recommend  themselves  to 
God,  and  the  holy  abbot  advanced  with  the  cross 
erected  like  a  banner"  and  blessed  them  as  they  knelt. 
And  after  that  they  fought ;  and,  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  battle.  King  Eobert  "  divided  the  great  spoil  and 
ransom-money  among  his  army,  except  the  cloths  of 
gold  and  silver  which  were  in  King  Edward's  and  the 
English  noblemen's  tents,  which  the  king  caused  to 
be  given  to  the  churches  for  altar  cloths  and  other 
necessary  ornaments."  ' 

'  David  Scot's  History  of  Scotland.     Westminster,  folio,  1728,  pp. 
187, 188. 


IN  NoETH  America.  841 

This  cross  or  crook,  of  solid  silver  elaborately 
carved,  having  on  one  side  a  precious  stone  and  on 
the  other  an  effigy  of  the  Kedeemer,  was  in  the  he- 
reditary custody  of  the  Macnabs,  by  them  intrusted  to 
the  Maclndoirs,  their  standard-bearers,  and  by  the 
last  of  these  was  brought  to  Canada,  where,  with  the 
letters  and  charters  of  James  the  Second  (of  Scotland), 
it  is  now  preserved  in  the  township  of  Macnab  on  the 
Ottawa. 

The  first,  five  hundred  in  number,  came  with  their 
good  priest  Angus  Macdonald,  in  1786.  Later,  the 
heroic  Hon.  and  Kt.  Kev.  Bishop  Macdounell,  who  had 
raised  for  the  crown  a  regiment  of  his  Catholic  clans- 
men and  others,  and  had  served  them  as  chaplain, 
led  them,  when  their  wars  were  over,  to  the  shores  of 
the  broad  Saint  Lawi-ence  and  dwelt  among  them,  and 
now  rests  from  his  labors  in  the  shadow  of  the  Kings- 
ton cathedral. 

Ten  years  later,  the  Hebrideans  set  sail  from  Kanna, 
and  Muick,  and  Eonin,  and  the  shelter  of  towering 
Scaur-Eigg  :  fi'om  the  shadow  of  sacred  loua,  from 
Mull  and  wild  Tu-ee ;  from  Uist  and  Skye,  of  gray 
mists, 

From  Ulva  dark  and  Colonsay, 
And  all  the  group  of  islands  gay 
That  guard  famed  Staffa  round.' 

Hither  they  came,  these  servants  of  God  and  children 
of  Mary,  with  their  utter  impossibihty  of  enduring  a 

'  The  Lord  of  the  Isles. 


342  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

spy ;  witli  tlieir  marrow-bred  loathing  of  informers ; 
with  their  thousand-jear-old  incapacity  for  servility  : 
hither,  to  be  free  to  adore  the  Sacred  Trinity,  and  to 
worship  tenderly  the  Mother  of  Emmanuel,  after  the 
rites  of  their  fathers.  Macleod  and  his  "yellow  stick'" 
disregarded ;  their  beloved  mountain  land,  with  its 
passionate  seas,  resigned  ;  for  God's  sake,  they  crossed 
the  aiseag  mJim',  the  "  great  ferry,"  the  Atlantic,  and 
sought  new  homes  for  themselves.  Always,  however, 
without  asking  sympathy,  without  comj)laint,  still  reso- 
lute, unsung,  unmentioned  in  speeches,  their  deep  woes 
known  to  then-  God  and  to  them  ;  known  and  remem- 
bered by  both. 

"When  my  forefathers,"  says  the  gi-andson  of  one 
of  these  men,  "  left  Eigg,  in  company  with  many 
fi'iends,  they  took  lands  in  a  part  of  the  province  of 
Nova  Scotia  (the  name  of  it  was  akin  to  what  was 
closest  to  their  hearts),  called  Cape  d'Or,  on  the  bay 
of  Fundy.  Here  they  labored  hard  for  eleven  years, 
until,  like  the  Acadians,  by  industry  and  perse- 
verance, they  had  converted  the  primeval  forest  of 
tliat  wild  country  into  flourishing  fields  and  verdant 
lawns. 

"  They  were  beginning  to  be  very  happy,  in  a  tem- 
poral point  of  view :  but  they  had  neither  priest  nor 
church  to  console  them  in  the  land  of  their  pilgrimage, 

'  This  cliief,  after  forsaking  the  ancient  religion,  converted  some  of 
his  ancient  clansmen  by  the  argument  of  his  cane.  Hebridean  Pro- 
testants have  been  ever  since,  and  are  novr  called  "  Protestants  of  the 
TeUow  Stick." 


IN  NoKTH  Ameeica.  343 

and  all  the  surroimding  country  was  getting  rapidly 
occupied  by  Protestants.  Tlie  emigrants  saw  tlie 
imminent  danger  to  wliicli  tlieir  children  would  be  ex- 
posed of  losing  their  faith,  if  they  remained  where  they 
were.  To  what  purpose,  they  asked  tearfully,  have  we 
abandoned  our  native  hills  and  glens  in  ancient  Mor- 
ven,  the  homes  of  our  Cathohc  ancestors,  if  we  are  to 
become  Protestants  here  in  the  wilderness  ?  No,  we 
must  move  again  and  commit  ourselves  to  the  kind 
protection  of  Heaven.  Under  the  guidance  of  the 
gentle  Star  of  the  Sea,  our  dear  Mother,  we  will  seek 
other  lands,  where  we  hope  that,  in  time.  Providence 
will  enable  us  to  rear  our  children  in  the  faith  of  their 
fathers  ;  in  the  practices  and  teachings  of  the  Catholic 
Church. 

"One  aged  matron,  Mary  M^cleod  her  name,  a 
mother  in  that  Celtic  Israel,  was  especially  impatient. 
She  constantly  repeated  to  her  sons  and  daughters 
that  there  were  lands  to  the  eastward.  'There,'  she 
said,  '  we  may  find  a  happy  home.  There  we  shall  be- 
come a  numerous  progeny.  There  we  shall  raise  the 
Crds  Tia  Criosdh,  the  Cross  of  Christ ;  and  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Mother  of  God,  in  years  to  come, 
there  shall  rise  fi'om  our  descendants,  those  who  shall 
be  the  spiritual  rulers  and  guides  of  our  people.'  The 
venerable  woman  spake  sooth.  Of  her  descendants, 
five  are  priests,  and  one,  the  child  of  her  daughter 
Una,  is  the  bishop,  the  spiritual  ruler  of  the  Gael  in 
Arichat,  Antigonish,  and  Cape  Breton." 

All  the  Catholics  of  the  old  colony  left  it  and  settled 


3M  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

in  the  county  of  Sydney,  Nova  Scotia,  and  tlie  sea-beat 
island  of  Cape  Breton.  And  tlie  old  mother  lived 
there  to  a  good  old  age,  and  saw  her  children's  chil- 
dren to  the  fourth  generation.  Now,  in  her  grandson's 
diocese,  there  stand  twelve  churches,  including  the 
cathedral,  under  the  invocation  of  the  Immaculate 
Mother  of  God.  "We  have  thousands,"  says  the 
bishop,  "  members  of  the  Confi*aternity  of  Our  Lady's 
Bosary :  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Scapular  and  of 
the  Sacred  Hearts  of  Jesus  and  Mary."*  There  then, 
in  brief,  imperfect  sketch,  we  intimate  the  existence  of 
the  mountain  Gaelic  child  of  Mary  on  this  continent. 
Doubtless  a  mine,  with  rich  veins  of  gold  therein,  could 
the  taste  and  the  opportunity  for  its  working  be  united 
in  the  same  individual. 

Under  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  Arichat  are  the 
tribes  of  Indian  Cathohcs  of  that  region.  The  Mic- 
macs,  we  believe,  are  the  largest.  Converts  they  of 
the  old  Acadian  missionaries,  in  the  days  of  the  mar- 
tyr Jesuite,  of  the  Ursuline  Mary  of  the  Incarnation  : 
and  of  Margaret  Bourgeoys,  the  Sister  of  Our  Lady. 
They  are  allied  with  the  Mareschite,  the  Penobscot, 
the  Passamaquoddy,  and  the  remains  of  the  Canadian 
Abenaki;  all  appertaining  to  the  once  wide-spread 
and  powerful  race  of  the  Algonquin.  "A  good  people 
these  Micmacs  of  Cape  Breton,"  says  the  Protestant 
Judge  Hahburton,  "possessed  of  an  inexhaustible 
stock   of  spirits   and   good-humor.      Koman  Catholic 

'  Letter  of  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Mackinnon. 


IN  NOKTH  AiEEKICA.  345 

priests  are  still  their  religious  instructors,  and,  con- 
sidering the  small  advantages  of  these  poor  people, 
their  character  is  not  bad.  Dishonesty  is  seldom 
heard  of  among  them."  * 

So  says  the  Protestant  historian  of  Nova  Scotia,  but 
the  CathoKc  Pastor  says,  "  All  our  Indians  are  Catho- 
lics,— honest,  humble,  good  people.  Their  chui'ches 
are  generally  under  the  invocation  of  Saint  Anne,  the 
Mother  of  the  Blessed  Yirgin  Mary.  Saint  Anne  was 
given  the  aborigines  of  this  country  as  patroness  by 
the  first  missionaries. 

Our  poor  Indians  are  very  devout  people  :  they 
are  remarkable  for  their  fidehty  to  the  faith.  Not- 
withstanding the  many  temptations  to  which  they  are 
exposed,  and  the  manner  in  which  their  rehgious  be- 
lief is  tampered  with,  no  inducement  can  bring  them 
to  abandon  their  faith.  The  Indian,  male  or  female, 
invariably  has  either  a  medal  of  the  Blessed  Yu-gin, 
or  a  small  crucifix  hanging  from  the  neck.  With  the 
blessed  beads  in  his  hand,  he  defies  all  opposition ; 
and  no  human  argument,  no  amount  of  bribery  can 
make  him  violate  his  allegiance  to  God.  He  says  to 
all,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  his  father,  that  Mary  is 
his  mother,  and  within  that  impregnable  stronghold 
of  faith,  the  gates  of  hell  cannot  prevail  against 
him.'" 

If  your  canoe  be  of  birch-bark  and  your  sail  of  good 


'  Hon.  C.  J.  Halibiirton's  Nova  Scotia,  ii.  350. 
'  Rt.  Bev.  Bishop  of  Aricliat. 
15* 


S4.6  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

canvas ;  if  tlie  sea  be  smootli  and  tlie  wind  riglit  abaft, 
you  may  sweep  over  the  blue  brine  like  a  swallow 
tbrougli  the  air,  and  in  a  few  hours  land,  fi'om  Cape 
Breton,  in  Maine  of  the  Cathohc  Abenakis.  The  last 
we  saw  of  them,  if  we  remember  rightly,  they  were 
standing  horror-struck  around  the  hacked  and  man- 
gled body  of  Father  Easles  at  Norridgewock.  Now  we 
are  to  see  them  again,  following  the  steps  of  saintly 
Cardinal  de  Cheverus,  somewhere,  I  guess,  in  the 
absence  of  dates,  about  1810.  He  has  given  himself 
the  prelimhiary  trouble  to  learn  what  he  can  of  the 
language  of  these  Indians.  He  thinks  it,  as  do  other 
scholars  in  it,  alUed,  by  structure  at  least,  to  Hebrew. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  philology  is  not  at  present  his  oc- 
cupation. He  gets  together  what  vestments,  books, 
and  other  things  iu  small  compass,  are  absolutely 
necessary  for  a  priest.  He  hires  a  guide,  buys  a  staff, 
and  sets  off,  on  foot,  from  Boston,  "  hub  of  the  Uni- 
verse." 

He  strikes  into  the  trackless  forest ;  breaks  his  way 
through  brush  and  thicket ;  hves  upon  bread  which  he 
has  taken  with  him;  sleeps  upon  the  spruce-boughs 
which  the  guide  hews  down.  Day  after  day  they 
break  their  road  through  the  obstructed  forest,  or 
walk  cheerily  where  they  have  found  a  glade.  The 
day  of  the  Lord,  dies  Doyninica,  comes,  crimson  at 
dawn,  to  Ught  the  green  umbrage  of  the  redolent 
pines ;  "  on  dewy  branch,  birds,  here  and  there,  with 
short,  deep  warble,  salute  the  coming  day.  Stars  fade 
out,  and  galaxies.     The  Universe  opens  its  portals  for 


IN  North  America.  347 

the  levee  of  tlie  great  Higli  King.'"  And  above  the 
woodland  notes,  or  the  sough  of  the  wind  in  the  pines, 
rises  a  chorus  of  human  voices,  indistinct,  distant,  soft, 
ringing  through  the  verdurous  alleys  of  the  scented 
wood ;  and  the  French  missionary  recognizes  the  notes 
of  Dupont's  Eoyal  Mass ;  that  which  still  echoes  be- 
times among  the  stately  arches  of  Notre  Dame,  or  the 
paganish  square-flatness  of  the  Madelaine.  It  is  the 
Sunday  morning  devotion  of  the  poor,  priestless,  but 
impregnably  loyal  Abnahi.  Savages,  they  call  them, 
to  distinguish  them  from  the  French  democrats  of 
1793,  and  from  others.  They  call  themselves  Wanba- 
nakki.  Children  of  the  Northern  Light. 

So,  while  God  was  listening  to  such  of  the  prayers 
of  the  Alameskemo'k,  or  Mass  Devotion,  as  the  poor 
"  savages"  were  entitled  to  utter.  His  minister  and  rep- 
resentative walked  into  the  midst  of  them.  Then  were 
prayers  and  all  else  put  aside,  as  their  swift  observa- 
tive  eyes  saw  the  cassock.  "  It  is  the  black-robe,"  they 
cried,  "it  is  the  chief  of  prayer."  He  was  the  first 
they  had  seen  for  fifty  years.  Yet  never,  during  all 
that  time,  had  these  "  savages"  omitted  to  celebrate 
the  Sundays  and  the  gi-and  festivals,  as  they  could, 
without  one  empowered  to  offer  the  supreme  act  of 
adoration,  a  pure  sacrifice.  Not  an  answer  of  their 
catechism  had  thej  forgotten :  the  children  had  learned 
question  and  response  correctly  from  the  memory  of 
their  barbarian  sires  and  dams.     Their  instruction,  in 

'  Carl-^le's  French  Revolution. 


348  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

its  limit,  was  so  perfect,  and  tlieir  morals,  on  examina- 
tion, were  so  spotless,  that  the  holy  de  Cheverus  wept 
for  joj. 

"  See  how  good  God  is  to  you,"  he  said  to  them. 
"  He  has  not  forgotten  you ;  He  has  only  tried  your 
faith  and  perseverance.  Now  you  have  your  reward. 
He  has  sent  me  here  to  you  to  dispense  His  word,  His 
graces,  and  his  sacraments."  And  they  were  glad, 
those  poor  savages,  that  the  bread  of  hfe  was  to  be 
broken  to  them  again :  and,  progressionist  as  we  are, 
we  fear  that  they  were  content  with  what  de  Cheverus 
could  give  them,  heedless  alike  of  the  inviting  splen- 
dors of  the  Great  Father  at  "Washington,  of  the  Bos- 
tonian  intelligence,  or  of  the  philanthropy  of  Doctor 
Beecher  and  Madame  Raphael. 

The  coarse  fancy  hunger  to  be  the  greatest  of  evils ; 
ah,  if  they  could  feel  the  horror  of  heing  obliged  to  eat, 
by  courtesy!  Mgr.  de  Cheverus  sat  upon  his  bear- 
skin, and  compelled  himself  to  swallow,  from  his  birch- 
bark  dish,  the  filth  which  the  pious  Indians  can  swal- 
low with  impunity :  aged  fish  boiled  without  salt,  for 
two  months  ;  swine's  flesh  greenly  antique  ;  by  and  by, 
towards  the  third  month  of  his  mission,  getting  covered 
by  those  "  fi'iends  of  man,"  which,  having  eight  legs, 
are  nameless.  " Le  seul  casuel"  he  said,  "  qiiil  refirdt 
de  son  ministere.  The  only  chance  (fee)  which  he  got 
in  his  ministry  there."  At  last  he  had  to  confine  him- 
self exclusively  to  bread;  unable  as  he  was  to  see, 
with  his  good  Indians  and  some  others  who  are  not 
Indians,  the  connection  between  piety  and  nastiness. 


IN  North  America.  349 

The  master  of  a  Frencli  vessel  recognized  him  once, 
from  his  deck,  buffeted  by  the  rough  waves  of  the 
ocean,  in  a  bark  canoe :  and  begged  permission  to 
carry  him  to  his  destination.  The  future  cardinal  de- 
clared himself  at  home  with  his  Indians,  and  refused 
to  change  conveyances. 

Our  Indians  were  dirty ;  but  though  that  caused  him 
much  suffering,  it  was  not  that  which  he  saw  most 
clearly.  But  this' — sentiments  so  noble  and  so  com- 
monly prevalent,  that  the  civilized  world  might  well 
blush  at  the  comparison :  such  simphcity  of  gratitude 
for  small  kindness ;  such  tenderness  of  mothers ;  such 
heroism  of  fiHal  piety.  They  could  not  believe  that 
the  French  had  murdered  their  king  (Louis  XVI).  "  It 
was  a  he,"  they  said  of  their  neighbors,  "  invented  to 
make  them  hate  the  French."  In  vain  did  Monsei- 
gneur  de  Cheverus  declare  to  them  that  the  nation  dis- 
avowed the  crime,  that  a  handful  of  miscreants  in 
power  had  committed  it ;  the  distinction  was  too  fine 
for  the  Wanbanakki.  It  was  an  old  white-headed 
Indian  who  questioned  the  missionary,  and  who,  com- 
prehending the  atrocity,  was  incapable  of  comprehend- 
ing the  excuse.  "  I  love  the  French  no  longer,"  said 
the  ignorant  savage.  "  But,"  urged  the  priest,  "  the 
people,  as  a  nation,  disavow  the  crime."  "  Disavow  it, 
do  they,"  cried  the  unlettered  barbarian,  "  they  should 
have  stood  between  their  king  and  his  assassins,  and 


'  Vie  de  Jean  Louis  Anne  Madelaine  Lefebvre  de  Cheverus,  Arclie- 
veque  de  Bordeaux.    Paris,  Jacques  Lecoflfre,  1850,  pp.  61-74. 


350  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

died  in  liis  defence." '  Later,  wlien,  as  archbishop  and 
cardinal,  he  spoke  of  his  barbarous  red  children,  it  was 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  with  these  words  often  re- 
repeated,  "Ces  dmes  si  grands,  si  nobles,  those  grand  and 
noble  souls." 

And  the  next  holy  man  we  see  among  them  is  Bishop 
Fenwick.  Bishop  of  Boston  he,  and  by  no  means  un- 
mindful of  his  red-men.  He  goes  to  Norridgewock, 
like  a  true  Celt,  to  take  vengeance ;  hke  an  apostle,  to 
take  the  vengeance  of  a  Christian.  "Sije  ne  me  trompe. 
je  vous  ai  fait  'part  de  V  intent  ion  ou  feiaisde  venger  la 
memoire  du  pere  Basles.''  If  I  be  not  deceived,  I  have 
told  you  of  my  purpose  to  avenge  the  memory  of 
Father  Basics."  He  cites  fi'om  a  New  England  author- 
ity of  that  day,  the  following  argument  used  to  convert 
the  savages.  "  Father  Basics  is  accused  of  employing 
all  the  artifices  used  in  his  order  (Jesuits)  to  seduce 
the  Indians.  That  he  taught  them  the  doctrine  of 
salvation  through  Jesus  Christ,  but  at  the  same  time 
made  them  beheve  that  Mary,  Mother  of  Jesus  Christ, 
was  a  Frenchwoman ;  that  our  Blessed  Lord  himseK 
had  been  put  to  death  by  the  EngHsh  ;  and  that  it  was 
meritorious,  just,  and  good  for  all  Christians  to  kill 
EngUshmen." '  A  doctrine  not  so  unbelieved  as  you 
might  fancy,  only  not  a  French  doctrine. 

Now  the  mode  of  the  good  bishop's  vengeance  was 
on  this  wise.     First  he  pui-chased  an  acre  of  land,  in- 

'  Vie  du  Cardinal  de  Chevenis,  p.  74. 

*  Annates  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi  a  Lyon,  vii.  177. 

*  See  detailed  account  iu  Dr.  Feuv^ick's  letter. — Ibid,,  vii.  178 


IN  NoETH  Ameeica.  351 

closing  the  site  of  the  ancient  Indian  Church,  of  the 
cabin  of  Father  Easles,  and  of  part  of  the  once  happy 
village  of  Narrantsowack,  A  pile  of  stones  stiU 
marked  the  position  of  the  altar,  and  beneath  them 
mouldered  the  rehcs  of  the  martyred  missionary. 
Bishop  Fenwick  then  ordered  a  granite  obelisk  and 
pedestal  of  twenty  feet  in  height,  surmounted  by  a  flo- 
riated cross  in  iron.  Then,  after  careful  pjiblication  of 
his  intentions,  he  went  to  the  spot,  to  celebrate  a  re- 
quiem Mass  for  the  Indians,  some  sixty  or  seventy  in 
number,  who  had  fallen  in  the  massacre  :  to  pronounce 
the  eulogy  of  the  missionary,  and  to  inaugurate  his 
monument.  The  inhabitants  poured  out  of  the  toAvus 
and  villages  to  see  the  novel  ceremony.  Five  thou- 
sand, the  bishop  thought.  And  there  the  monument 
was  erected  on  that  anniversary  of  the  martyrdom, 
August  29th,  1833.  Two  years  afterwards  it  was 
thrown  down ;  restored  again ;  and  again,  in  1851, 
overthrown. 

Among  the  audience  was  a  grandson  of  one  of  the 
murderers  ;  a  Protestant  and  a  man  of  great  respect- 
abihty.  More  than  once,  during  the  ceremonies,  he 
wept  bitterly,  and  it  was  in  a  voice  broken  by  heavy 
sobs,  that  he  thanked  the  prelate  for  the  "  pious  and 
solemn  act  of  reparation  made  to  the  memory  of  as 
honest  a  man  as  ever  lived  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth." '  If  we  give  his  story  in  his  own  words  here, 
it  is  to  show  what  the  love  and  habitual  imitation  of 


^  Ann.  de  la  Prop.,  vii.  183,  et  seq. 


352  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

Mary  can  effect  in  the  hearts  of  savages.  "  Tour  work 
here,"  he  said  to  the  bishop,  "  is  a  truly  pious  one.  I 
do  not  belong  to  your  religion,  but  I  esteem  this  act  of 
yours.  I  am  no  stranger  to  the  events  of  that  deplor- 
able day  on  which  Father  Easles  lost  his  life.  My  own 
grandfather  was  one  of  that  unhappy,  cruel,  and  un- 
just expedition ;  and  on  the  day  of  his  death,  he  cried 
like  a  child  on  remembering  the  massacre.  One  cir- 
cumstance, unknown  to  Catholics,  unrecorded  by  non- 
CathoHcs,  I  will,  with  your  permission,  tell  you. 

"  The  New  Englanders  had  with  them  a  large  num- 
ber of  pagan  savages.     The  young  braves  of  Owena- 
gunga  were  away  hunting  or  fishing.     The  first  fire  of 
the  assassins  killed  the  few  old  men  and  boys  who  at- 
tempted to  resist,  killed  them,  or  wounded  and  dis- 
persed them.     One  woman,  with  her  baby  in  her  arms, 
crossed  the  river,  and  hid  herself  in  a  cavern  in  the 
forest  there.    On  the  next  day,  when,  after  burning  the 
church  and  village,  the  Yankees  had  retii-ed,  carrying 
with  them  what  was  valuable  among  the  missionary's 
personal  effects,  the  poor  woman  recrossed  the  stream 
to  search  for  her  husband  among  the  corpses  of  the 
slain.     She  found  him,  and  having  scooped  out  his 
grave  in  the  sands  of  the  river  shore,  she  laid  him 
therein,  and  turned  away  from  the  spot  to  recross  the 
river.    But  deep  moans  of  pain  from  a  thicket  arrested 
her  attention  :  she  searched  the  spot  and  found,  not 
one  of  her  people,  but  one  of  their  white  murderers, 
severely    wounded    by    a    ball    from    some    Abnaki 
musket. 


IN  North  America.  353 

"  Tliere  lie  laj,  completely  at  the  mercy  of  tliis  sav- 
age who  had  just  inearthed  her  husband, — killed,  per- 
haps, by  this  same  pale  face.  But  she  subdued  every 
thought  of  vengeance,  she  recalled  only  ideas  of  reli- 
gion :  she  pardoned,  and,  having  succeeded  in  getting 
the  man  to  her  canoe,  paddled  him  over  the  river  and 
concealed  him,  from  any  chance  return  of  the  Indians, 
in  her  own  cave  of  refuge.  Here  she  nursed  and  nour- 
ished him  with  the  tender  care  of  a  mother,  and  bade 
God  bless  him  when  returning  strength  permitted  him 
to  depart  for  his  home.  '  He  wej)t,'  says  his  descend- 
ant, '  at  the  recollection  of  this  good  Samaritan 
woman ;'  which  was  a  great  consolation,  for  he  was  a 
civiHzed  Pui'itan,  she  merely  a  Papist  and  a  savage." 

All  the  long  period  from  Father  Easles'  death  to  the 
advent  of  Bishop  Fen  wick,  our  poor  red  friends  were 
exposed  to  perpetual  annoyance  from  the  "  mission- 
aries" of  Boston :  nay,  even  Indians  are  employed  ; 
and  their  ancient  foe,  the  Iroquois,  furnished  some 
apostates  fi'om  the  faith,  who  undertook  the  j)erversion 
of  the  Alnambay  of  Maine.  They  succeeded  as  those 
edifying  laborers  usua%  do — that  is,  they  have  not  yet 
made  one  single  convert.  Now,  fortunately,  they  have  a 
devoted  patriarch,  or  as  they,  who  have  no  "E"  in  their 
language,  call  him,  Patlias,  Kev.  Eugene  Vetromile. 

This  priest  has  secured  them  from  much  danger  by 
providing  them  \\ith  books  in  their  own  tongue,  a  book 
of  catechetical  instruction   and   a  prayer-book.'     He 


'  Alnambay  uli  AwikJdgan,  Indian  Good  5ook,  made  by  Eugene 
r 


354  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

was  kind  enougli  to  send  botli,  as  well  as  his  ingenious 
calendar,  to  the  present  writer.  The  instruction  book 
I  gave  to  the  venerable  De  Smet,  on  his  departure  for 
the  Eocky  Mountains ;  the  other  I  value  gratefully, 
and  preserve. 

"  Siem'pre  Jiel,  ever  true,"  is  the  proud  motto  of  the 
Cuban  Spaniard  ;  but  who  have  a  better  right  to  such 
a  legend  than  our  poor  sons  of  the  Northern  Light, — 
so  long  neglected,  bereaved,  untaught,  but  preserving 
their  religious  instruction  orally,  through  desolate  half 
centuries  at  a  time  ?  "  To-day,"  says  Father  Yetro- 
mile,  "you  cannot  find  house  or  wigwam  without  a 
picture  or  image  of  our  Lady.  I  have  never  met  an 
Lidian  who  did  not  wear  a  medal,  a  Rosary,  or  a  Scap- 
ular. The  first  prayer  which  parents  teach  their  chil- 
dren, is  the  '  Malie  KitalamiJwl,  Hail  Mary.'  "  They 
still  keep  up  the  ancient  practice'  of  sending  their  sons 
to  our  Lady  of  Saint  Francis  de  Sales,  in  times  of  sick- 
ness or  distress.  There  kneeling,  they  cast  their  sor- 
rows at  the  feet  of  Mary,  and  remind  that  gentlest 
Mother,  "that  none  ever  have  recourse  to  her  in  vain." 
Let  us  give  this  shortest  prayer,  the  "  Memorare  o 
piissima  Virgo  Maria :  remember,  O  gentlest  Yii'gin 
Mary,"  as  a  specimen  of  the  Penobscot  tongue.  "  We- 
wittahama  Sangamawi  Malie  kussiusque,  esma  wewel- 
maussi  attamahh,  kemisnamon  ehhlat,  Nehamskawass 

Vetromile,  Indian  Patriarch,  for  tlie  Passamaquoddy,  Penobscot,  St. 
Johns,  Micmac,  and  other  tribes  of  the  Abnaki  Indians.  New  York  : 
Dunigan  &  Brother,  1858. 

'  Vide,  passim,  chap.  viii.  of  this  work. 


IN  North  America.  355 

peseko,  k'clelan  attamalili  kemisnamon  elat.  Anda, 
Sangamawi  Malie  kussiusque,  anda.  Meli  elitcliawel- 
dama,  eli  k'sangman  mena  Zezus.     Nialetcli."  ' 


>  Indian  Good  Book,  p.  165. 


356  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maby 


CHAPTER  XVin. 

OBLATI  MABL3:   IMMACULATE.      OFrERED   FOK  MART  IMMACUXATE. 

SuEELY  no  one  of  the  devout  readers  of  these 
sketches  has  forgotten  the  name  of  Olier;  how  we 
saw  him  working  for  the  City  of  Mary  on  the  Saint 
Lawrence,  founding  the  society,  sending  out  the  minis- 
ters, who,  reai^ing  for  the  same  Master,  where  the 
Jesuits  had  sown,  garnered  glorious  harvests  in  North- 
ern America.  Let  us  hope,  too,  that  Father  Chau- 
monot,  that  student  in  the  College  of  Jesus  in  Rome, 
who  gave  its  first  Loretto  to  this  continent,  is  not 
already  hidden  by  the  unwise  hurry  of  our  life  here. 
If  yea,  let  us  recall  them  both  by  another  student,  one 
nearer  to  us  in  time.  Another  flower  ripened  by  that 
detestable  muck-heap,  the  French  Revolution.  A  baby 
esile :  a  schoolboy  in  the  college  of  nobles  at  Turin ; 
after  that,  tempted  by  wealth,  by  his  family,  by  abun- 
dant opportunity  of  and  influence  for  distinction  to 
temain  in  the  world ;  and  refusing  all.  Urged  by  an 
aged  uncle  with  this  final  argument,  "  Tou  are  the  last 
of  your  name ;"  he  makes  answer,  "  And  what  more 
honorable  for  any  family  than  to  end  in  the  person  of 
a  priest?"' 

'  Oraison  fun^bre  de  Monseigneur  de  Mazenod,  par  Monseigneur 
Jeancard,  6veque  de  Cerame.    Marseilles :  1861. 


IN  North  America.  357 

rinally,  grown  np  ;  not  wilful,  but  able  by  education 
and  conviction  to  convince  his  elders,  he  overcomes 
theii"  opposition,  and  enters  as  student  in  the  Semi- 
nary of  Saint  Sulpice.  His  name  is  Charles  Joseph 
Eugene  de  Mazenod.  It  is  not  ours  to  follow  him  in 
his  career  as  seminarian  and  priest.  Enough  that  the 
blossom  and  bud  foretold  the  richness  of  the  ripened 
and  perfect  fruit.  Bishop  of  Marseilles  he  stands, 
when  we  first  require  to  look  at  him.  A  soldier  of 
God  and  Mary,  with  the  new  ideas,  begotten  of  the 
Revolution,  to  combat;  with  the  looseness  of  manner 
and  inner  morals,  and  the  decay  of  respectability 
inseparable  from  the  success  of  liberty,  falsely  so 
called,  to  correct,  as  grace  might  be  given  him.  His 
courage  was  high,  his  will  firm,  his  flag  the  true  one, 
his  rehance  the  Strong  One,  but  he  could  not  hope  to 
battle  triumphantly  alone. 

He  worked  long  and  hard  to  gather  and  form  a  body 
of  devoted  priests.  Caught  by  his  spirit,  many  gave 
themselves  up  to  him  for  these  new  missions  in  the 
land  of  the  "  Eldest  Son  of  the  Church."  Theii-  zeal 
was  rewarded  with  a  golden  harvest  of  souls;  their 
success  won  recruits  to  their  banner ;  they  were  evan- 
gelizing seven  dioceses  already,'  when,  entreated  by  the 
bishops,  he  determined  to  form  them  into  an  Order,  if 
permitted.  So  he  sought  the  permission  at  the  tomb 
of  Peter.  The  then  successor  of  the  Prince  of  the 
Apostles,  Leo  the  Twelfth,  received  both  the  bishop 

>  Oraison  funebre,  p.  17. 


358  Detotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mart 

and  his  project  with  favor.  The  Cardinals  charged 
with  such  affairs  received  their  orders,  and  the  new 
association  took  its  place  among  the  canonically  con- 
stituted families  of  God's  Church.  They  were  called 
"  Oblati  3Iartce — Men  offered,  soul  and  body,  unto  God 
Supreme  in  honor  of  Immaculate  Mary." 

He  had  already  been  offered  the  Cardinal's  hat  by 
the  same  Pontiff,  but  had  refused  it.  Let  him  stay 
with  his  Oblates  of  Mary  :  that  was  his  place  :  that  his 
work.  "  God  willed,"  says  his  eloquent  eulogist,  "  to 
bestow  upon  him,  not  the  purple  of  terrestrial  dignity, 
but  the  robe  of  eternal  glory.  Was  it  not  a  foretaste 
of  that,  when  he  lived  to  see  his  spiritual  children 
evangelizing  the  world,  from  the  islands  and  peninsulas 
of  Japan  to  the  snow-clad  wastes  beyond  the  vast 
North  American  lakes !  To  see  five  of  them  conse- 
crated bishops  by  his  own  hands  at  the  head  of  as 
many  missions !  "We  may  say  of  him  as  of  the  Apos- 
tles, 'His  voice  has  gone  forth  over  all  the  earth.' 
What  man,  of  our  day,  has  done  more  for  the  Church  ? 
To  find  his  fellows  we  must  remount  to  the  holy  found- 
ers of  orders.  His  order,  only  of  yesterday  as  it  is, 
counts  a  legion  of  evangelical  laborers  at  home  as 
abroad,  from  the  tropics  to  the  poles.  He  it  was  who 
cared  for  them  all;  he  who  directed  their  zeal  and 
fortified  their  courage.  He  animated  them  with  his 
fervent  spmt ;  communicated  to  them  his  own  lively 
faith  ;  inspired  them  with  that  heroic  confidence  which 
defies  obstacles.  No  seas  have  been  found  so  vast  or 
stormy,  no  forest  so  profound,  no  race  so  barbarous 


IN  North  America.  "  359 

and  rebel  to  the  truth  as  to  stop  them  in  their  march 
of  self-deTotion,  in  their  progress  of  spiritual  con- 
quest."    Thej  are  Oblates  of  Mary. 

Let  his  last  will  and  testament  show  the  spirit  of  his 
life.  "I  implore,"  he  says  therein,  "the  mercy  of 
God,  through  the  merits  of  our  divine  Saviour,  Jesus 
Christ,  in  whom  I  place  aU  my  confidence,  so  to  obtain 
the  pardon  of  my  sins  and  the  grace  of  reception  in 
His  holy  Paradise.  Therefore,  I  invoke  the  interces- 
sion of  the  holy  and  Immaculate  Virgin  Mary,  Mother 
of  God  ;  daring  to  remind  her,  in  this  my  extreme  hour, 
in  all  humility,  but  with  consohng  confidence,  of  my 
life-long  filial  devotion  to  her,  and  my  perpetual  desire 
and  endeavor  to  make  her  known  and  loved  whereso- 
ever my  influence  could  extend."  "Never,"  we  are 
told,  "did  he  neglect  his  meditation  or  his  Kosary ; 
never  did  he  remit  the  austerities  of  his  laborious  and 
penitent  Kfe,  nor  the  fervor  of  his  devotion  to  the 
Blessed  Yirgin." 

"  Stay  with  us,  my  Father,"  said  some  one  to  him  as 
he  lay  dying.  "  "We  have  such  need  of  you,  God  v  ill 
not  refuse  to  leave  you  with  us,  if  you  ask  Him."  "  No," 
he  answered,  "  I  cannot  ask  for  that.  I  have  but  one 
desire  :  that  His  blessed  will  be  done.  Eead  then  the 
prayers  for  the  dying!  But  give  me  first  my  mis- 
sionary cross  and  beads  ;  those  are  my  arms !"  He 
took  the  crucifix  in  one  hand  and  his  chaplet  in  the 
other,  and  never  loosened  his  hold  on  them  again,  al- 
though his  agony  lasted  ilnrtij  hours.  They  repeated 
the  complines  over  and  over  again  for  him.     At  the 


860  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

yerses,  "  In  Him  will  I  sleep  and  take  my  rest" — "  In 
Thee,  O  Lord,  have* I  trusted;  I  sliall  never  be  con- 
fonnded" — "  Into  Thy  hands,  O  Lord,  I  commend  my 
spirit ;"  and  at  the  "  Now,  Lord,  let  Thy  servant  de- 
part in  peace," '  he  testified  his  approbation  of  the  sen- 
timent by  a  motion  of  his  hands. 

Then,  when  they  recited  the  Salve  Regina,  for  it  was 
Tuesday  in  the  Whitsun  Octave,  he  followed  the 
beautiful  prayer.  At  the  sentence,  "After  this  exile 
show  to  us  thy  Son,"  he  opened  his  eyes.  Wlien  they 
said,  "  O  clement,  O  gentle,"  he  murmured  the  words, 
and  then,  with  a  supreme  effort.,  he  added  aloud  with 
the  others,  "O  sweet  Virgin  Mary!"'  and  breathed 
forth  his  holy  soul  into  her  maternal  arms.  Such  was 
the  father  :  let  us  look  for  a  little  at  the  Hfe  of  his  sons 
in  North  America. 

In  1827  the  work  was  begun  in  France,  or  rather 
the  idea  of  the  holy  prelate  was  accomplished  by  that 
date.  By  1845  nineteen  Oblate  priests  were  at  work 
in  Canada.'  At  Montreal,  at  Quebec,  at  Kingston, 
with  the  vast  dependencies  of  those  dioceses.  By  1845 
they  had  secured  to  themselves  the  Indian  Apostolate, 
and  that  of  the  lumberers  or  woodmen,  thousands  of 
whom  live,  more  uncultured  than  the  savage,  in  the 

'  In  idipsum  dormiam  et  requiescam. — Ps.  iv.  In  Te  Domine 
speravi,  uon  confundar  in  seternum.  In  manus  Tuas  Domine  com- 
mendo  spiritum  meum. — Ps.  xxx.  Nunc  dimittis  servum  Tuum 
Domine. — St.  Luke's  Gospel,  ii. 

"  "  Filium,  post  hoc  exilium  ostende.  0  clemens,  0  pia,  0  dulcis 
.Virgo  Maria." — Pentecost  Compline  Antiphon. 

^  Annalesde  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi.     Lyons,  svii.  841,  et  seq. 


IN  NoETH  America.  361 

vast  nortliern  forests  where  tlieir  scene  of  labor  lies. 
Thej  liad  already  visited  all  tlie  tribes  about  the 
mouth  of  the  Saint  Lawrence,  and  were  looking  with 
eager  eyes  towards  the  ice-bound  coasts  of  Labrador 
and  the  snow-huts  of  the  Esquimaux.  Each  year  some 
one  or  more  of  them  must  make  a  visitation  of  every 
post.  In  1846  they  are  called  to  Hudson's  Bay.  A 
mission  nearly  as  large  in  territory  as  the  whole  of 
Europe.  Ten  degrees  of  latitude  in  width  (48''  to  58° 
N.),  it  sweeps  across  the  longitude  from  70°  to  142°, 
seventy-two  degrees,  from  the  shores  of  the  Northern 
Atlantic  to  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  from  Lake 
Superior  and  the  northern  limit  of  the  States  to  the 
perpetual  icebergs  of  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

Since  that  time  they  have  increased  immensely  in 
number,  and  in  fervor,  were  that  possible.  They  are 
extending  their  hmits  into  the  United  States.  New 
Tork  has  at  least  one  colony  :  New  Mexico,  if  we  mis- 
take not,  another :  California  and  Oregon  rejoice  in 
the  presence  of  the  Oblates  of  Immaculate  Mary  :  and 
eleven  years  ago  (1852)  a  party  of  twenty-two  of  them 
left  France  for  the  Missions  of  Texas.  It  will  not  be 
uninteresting  to  watch  the  growth  of  their  devotion. 
The  first  wild  missions  are  from  Three  Eivers,  up  the 
Saint  Maurice,  in  a  canoe,  except  when  the  frequent 
portages  required  walking.  Salt  pork  formed  their 
dinner  and  dessert;  two  blankets  apiece  their  bed;  the 
dryest  bit  of  soil  they  could  find  their  solid  bedstead ; 
the  fir-forest  foliage  or  the  boreal  sky  their  canopy. 
But  their  welcome  by  the  Algonquin  repaid  them  for  all. 

16 


362  Deyotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

Such  eagerness  in  the  poor  red-skin  to  show  his  love 
and  gratitude  ;  such  avidity  for  the  truth  ;  such  hum- 
ble rehance  on  God,  such  childlike  love  for  Mary.  In 
that  first  mission/  fifty  Indians  made  their  first  com- 
munion, and  twenty  were  baptized,  nearly  all  adults. 

Another  party "  stretches  off  one  hundred  miles  east- 
ward of  Quebec  to  Tadoussac.  Old  Catholics  these, 
unedifying  a  year  or  two  ago,  but  now,  1844,  pious  and 
flourishing,  "  fire-water"  having  been  permanently  re- 
nounced. "Look,  father,"  says  one  of  them,  "when 
we  drank,  we  forgot  thy  lessons :  we  ceased  to  drink, 
and  now  every  word  stays  here,"  and  he  laid  his  hand 
upon  his  heart.  One  hundred  communions,  thirty-sis 
baptisms  here.  Still  another  Oblate,  Father  Laver- 
lochore,  mounts  the  Ottawa,  from  Montreal  to  the 
tribes  of  Abbitibbe,  nearing  the  lower  shores  of  Hud- 
son's Bay.  He  is  met  by  the  grand  chief,  clad  all  in 
scarlet,  with  a  collar  of  pearls  round  his  neck,  and 
hanging  over  his  breast  Our  Lady's  Eosary  and  a 
medal  of  the  Immaculate  Mother.  All  fervent  Catho- 
lics here,  having,  for  Indians,  fair  wealth  of  furs  and 
game,  and  no  whiskey. 

Next  year  we  make  a  stride  from  Montreal  of  tiventy- 
Jive  hundred  miles  northwestward.  No  railways  or 
steamers  here ;  yea,  1845  though  it  be.  Our  boat  is  of 
birch  bark,  rather  thicker  than  this  paper  which  you 
are  holding,  twice  as  thick  may  be,  not  more ;    but 


'  Annales  de  la  Prop.,  xvii.,  243.     Father  Bourassa,  1844. 
"  Father  Fisette,  Annales,  xvii.,  247. 


IN  NoETH  Amekica.  363 

tougli  and  strengtliened  with  ashen  ribs  and  vertebrae : 
requiring  to  be  very  light,  so  that  two  persons  may 
shoulder  it  and  carry  it  round  falls  and  rapids  :  a  boat 
of  perfect  buoyancy,  holding  a  dozen  persons  with  a 
tent  or  wigwam,  if  need  be,  and  some  provisions  and 
simple  cuhnary  apparatus.  So  through  the  grand 
forests,  along  the  fair  waters,  chanting  such  hymns  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  as  ring  in  the  cathedrals  and  parisli 
churches  of  old  Cathohc  France.  The  squirrel  chat- 
ters at  them  as  they  j)ass;  the  cardinal  grosbeak 
utters  his  wild,  loud  whistle  ;  the  indigo  bunting 
flashes  his  sapphire  plumage  through  the  clear  air ; 
or  if  it  happen  to  be  snow  season,  and  the  voices  and 
wings  of  these  be  still,  at  least  you  can  see  the  white 
rabbit  spring  up  and  scurry  away  over  tlie  spotless 
waste,  and,  borne  to  the  ear,  over  miles  of  snow  plain, 
sounds  the  long,  weird  howl  of  the  hungry  wolf. 

Away  up  the  Ottawa  or  the  Mattawan,  past  Sault 
Saint  Marie,  along  the  north  shore  of  Superior,  uj)  the 
Taministiquia  to  the  extreme  limits  of  Canada,  and 
then,  on  foot,  across  the  broad  plateau  till  the  sparkle 
of  the  Red  River  waters  becomes  visible,  and,  launch- 
ing on  that  stream,  they  follow  its  course,  to  the  palace 
on  its  banks,  of  Monseigneur  Provencher,  bishop  of 
Juliopolis  and  vicar  apostolic  of  Hudson's  Bay.  A 
Canadian  he,  by  birth,  early  called,  early  sent  to  this 
wild  mission  of  Saint  Boniface,  on  the  Red  River,  near 
Lake  "Winipeg.  Fancy  his  life  :  "  the  intensity  of  cold, 
the  pangs  of  hunger,  the  extreme  want  to  which  he 
was  exposed,   sometimes  without  clothes  enough  to 


364  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

cover  liim.'  Fatigue  and  privation  in  every  sliap©  ^rere 
liiSj  also  utmost  heroic  apostolic  zeal." 

From  1818  to  1853,  thirty-fve  years,  was  his  period 
of  labor  in  the  boreal  wilds.  A  bishop,  yet  he  swung 
a  deft  axe  in  the  woodland ;  a  bishop,  but  if  you  visited 
him  in  the  season,  you  would  find  him  following  the 
plough.  He  had  his  work  to  do  over  souls  also — to 
transform  tribes  of  furious  wolves  into  a  flock  of  lambs, 
so  that  the  Good  Shepherd  might  find  them  ready 
when  He  called  and  led  them  "  to  the  green  pastures, 
by  the  still  waters,"  wliere,  in  "His  presence  is  fulness 
of  joy  forevermore." '  By  and  by  he  gets  assistance- 
The  Oblates  of  Immaculate  Mary  "  come  over  to  help 
him." '  He  sees  the  sacred  fruits  of  his  labor  extending 
for  eigJiteen  hundred  miles,  from  the  door  of  his  cathe- 
dral ;  "  Germinaverunt  speciosa  deserti.  Beauty  spring- 
eth  up  in  the  desert."  ^  Then  he  knows  that  his  work 
is  done.  He  sends  for  Mr.  Tache,  a  missionary,  one 
thousand  miles  away,  to  help  him.  But  before  the 
Oblate  of  Mary  can  reach  him,  he  sleeps  sweetly  in 
Jesus.  ''  Dedit  Dominus  diledo  Suo  somnvm.  He  hath 
given  His  beloved  sleep."*  And  now  Monseigneur 
Tache  is  the  Bishop  of  Saint  Boniface.* 

To  go   back   a  little.     When  Father  Laverlochere 


^  For  a  sketcli  of  Mgr.  Provencber,  see  Annals  of  tlie  Propagation 
of  tlie  Faith,  xxvi.  47-51. 

^  In  loco  pascuae  me  collocavit :  super  aquam  refectionis  educa\'il 
me. — Psalm  xxii.     Adimplebis  me  Isetitia  cum  vultu  Tuo. — Psalm  xv. 

*  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  xvi.  ^  Psalm  cxxvi. 

*  Prophecy  of  Joel,  ii.  ®  Consecrated,  Nov.  28,  1857. 


IN  North  America.  365 

starts  for  Ms  second  mission  in  1843,  lie  begins  it,  as 
he  tells  us,  "  by  offering  the  August  Sacrifice,  and  by- 
placing  himself  under  the  protection  of  Immaculate 
Mary."  This  protection  is  necessary,  thinks  the  mis- 
sionary ;  for,  in  passing  down  a  furious  rapid,  hurled 
by  the  impetuous  stream,  the  bark  canoe  strikes  a  tree- 
trunk  caught  there  by  the  rocks,  is  broken  in  two,  and 
they,  its  freight,  struggle  as  they  may  in  the  white 
foaming  waters.  All  get  safe,  although  well  wearied 
and  drenched,  to  shore.  As  for  the  two  Oblates, 
"  Marie  Immaculee,  leur  auguste  mere  veillait  sans  cesse  sur 
lews  jours, — Mary  Immaculate,  their  august  Mother, 
watched  ceaselessly  over  their  hves."'  At  the  last 
mission,  two  years  before,  sis  hundred  and  twenty-five 
savages  had  forsworn  whiskey ;  at  this  mission,  they 
find,  to  their  sorrow,  that  one  has  once  broken  his  pledge. 
Here,  among  the  Abbitibbi,  in  a  family  of  distin- 
guished hunters  and  braves,  only  the  old  mother  had 
remained  resolutely  pagan.  This  time  she  asked  for 
baptism.  All  the  long  interval  since  the  last  visit,  she 
had  "  dreamed,"  as  the  Indians  call  it,  and  had  made 
up  her  mind  to  follow  her  children.  "Ah,  Father," 
she  said,"  "  I  was  very  wretched  until  the  Great  Spirit 
took  pity  upon  me.  Since  the  Black-robe  warned  me 
of  the  danger  of  remaining  as  I  was,  I  have  had  no 
rest.  Often,  while  asleep,  I  seemed  to  be  falling  into 
the  gulf.  Then  when  I  awaked,  I  promised  the  Great 
Spirit  to  obey  the  counsels  of  the  Black-robe ;  but  as 

*  Annales,  xviii.  454  *  Ibid. 


366  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

often  the  Blatcld-manitou  (the  evil  spirit)  conquered  me. 
"Whenever  I  looked  at  the  holy  grains  of  prayer  (the 
Eosary),  or  at  the  blessed  face  of  Mary  on  the  medal 
round  my  children's  necks,  I  was  troubled.  But,  aU 
the  last  year  I  have  lived  with  my  eldest  son,  and 
every  day  ive  counted  the  holy  grains  of  prayer  together, 
and  it  did  good  to  my  heart,  and  I  yearned  for  bap- 
tism. Ah,  how  long  the  year  seemed !  '  Will  the 
Black-robe  never  come  ?'  I  said.  '  He  might  have  pity 
on  me.'  This  was  all  I  thought  of  through  the  sad 
winter.  And  when  my  son  set  out  for  Kithi  Kami 
(Hudson's  Bay),  I  prayed  him  to  write  you.  Here  is 
his  letter.  Now  you,  my  Father,  are  following  him. 
You  wiU  see  him  at  Abbitibbi,  and  wiU  tell  him  that 
his  mother  is  a  Christian." 

Some  temporal  comfort  the  missionary  finds  in  those 
desolate  regions.  Sir  George  Simpson  builds  him  a 
church. 

About  the  same  time,  another  Oblate  of  Mary  Im- 
maculate, in  Northern  Oregon,  is  in  the  snow-camp  of 
the  Yakama.  There  pains  and  miseries,  physical  and 
mental,  cold  and  starvation,  and  sorrow  over  hard 
hearts,  fall  on  him,  he  thinks,  "  like  hail  on  a  springing 
plant."  So  he  calls  his  mission  "Holy  Cross;"  and 
bears  his  lesser  crosses  more  cheerfully,  in  remem- 
brance of  that.  The  petty  chieftain  Yelloio  Snalce  is  his 
grand  enemy.  Whenever  he  calls  the  better  sort  to 
the  prayer.  Yellow  Snake  gathers  his  pagans  in  a 
neighboring  wigwam,  and  there  holds  infernal  revel- 
ries.   Yellow  Snake's  devil  is  nearly  as  clever  at  inven- 


m  North  America.  3G7 

tion  as  the  devil  of  Doctor  Brownlee,  or  of  the  less 
intelligent  American  antipapists.  "  The  Black-robe," 
quoth  Yellow  Snake,  "  catches  rattlesnakes,  and,  by  his 
enchantments,  makes  them  vomit  a  black  poison  upon 
our  tobacco.     He  will  soon  kill  us  all."  * 

To  tliis  is  added  accusation  of  producing  all  the  sick- 
ness, fever,  gastritis,  a  case  or  so  of  smaU-pox.  The 
cold  is  so  intense  that  wild  animals  are  scarcely  to  be 
found.  Sometimes  the  ponies  are  frozen  to  death 
when  out  hunting  ;  but,  upon  the  whole,  that  is  a  kind 
of  blessing,  for  then  they  eat  the  pony.  Our  Oblate  of 
Mary  thanks  God  that  he  still  has  (January  12, 1849)  in 
his  ice-larder  one  dog  and  tivo  dead  ivolves,  which  agree- 
able provision  he  hopes  will  last  until  milder  weather, 
when,  perhaps,  "  Our  dear  Lord  will  have  pity  on  us, 
and  send  us  some  bear  or  deer."  Meantime,  he  in- 
structs many,  baptizes  the  children,  attends  the  dying, 
buries  the  dead.  The  medicine-man  falls  into  dis- 
repute, but  does  not  give  up  yet.  "  Do  you  see  that 
cabin,  with  the  white  cross  on  it?" — such  is  one  of 
Yellow  Snake's  harangues.  "  That  is  the  source  of  our 
misery  :  out  of  that  the  Black-robe  sends  us  death  ;  he 
is  killing  us  all  by  his  prayer,  his  words,  and  his  medi- 
cine-water (baptism).  Burn  down  his  cabin  and  cut 
his  head  off,  and  I  promise  to  cure  all  your  maladies." 
But  Father  Chirouse  trusts  in  God,  and  hopes  that  he 
shall  welcome  death  joyfuUy  for  the  cause  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

1  Annales,  xsiii.  76 


868  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

It  is  true  that  woful  tales  of  destitution  and  suffer- 
ing come  in  from  the  Nezperces,  the  Cayouses,  and  the 
Flatheads,  that  their  stock  is  perishing  under  the 
snows,  and  their  lodges  full  of  sickness ;  that  there  is 
eight  feet  of  snow  at  the  mission  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception;  but  all  this  does  not  break  down  the 
Oblate  of  Mary,  nor  even  take  the  sweet  French  gayety 
out  of  his  heart,  nor  off  his  pen.  Has  he  not  a  pantry 
full  of  choice  provisions?  A  dog  and  two  defunct 
wolves !  He  acknowledges  that  the  climate  is  rather 
cool  for  the  condition  of  his  wardrobe  ;  and  that  when 
his  ragged  and  only  cassock  feU  to  pieces  at  last,  the 
wind  that  sweeps  those  frozen  solitudes,  bit  him  more 
keenly  than  he  relished. 

"So  I  cut  out  a  new  cassock  from  a  fine  thick 
blanket,  and  dyed  it  in  the  juice  of  the  corn-bloom. 
The  color  produced  being  a  Hvely  violet,  I  fancied 
myself  a  bishop  ;  but  the  first  time  I  was  caught  in 
the  rain,  the  violet  all  washed  out,  and  my  cassock  was 
as  white  as  the  Pope's.  A  poor  pope  I,  for  I  lost  my 
only  needle,  and  could  find  no  other  m  all  my  Quirinal 
palace.  But  I  took  the  head  off  a  big  pin  and  made 
it  into  a  kind  of  needle,  with  which  I  have  mended  the 
old  cassock.  Do  not  mock  at  my  needle ;  she  is 
coarse,  but  solid  ;  it  is  true  that  she  bends  oftener  thaa 
I  could  desire,  but  then  she  never  breaks."  ' 

An  ingenious  man,  you  say.  True,  but  not  more  so 
than  his  brother   Oblate   of    Mary,   Father  Farand, 


'  Annales,  ssiii.  79. 


IN  North  Ameeica.  369 

wliose  beat  is  about  Lake  Athabasca,  and  thence  north- 
ward. He  has  made  himself  a  little  bos  which  holds 
bread  and  wine,  a  vestment,  altar  linen,  the  chalice 
and  the  stone,  every  thing,  indeed,  needed  for  the 
adorable  sacrifice,  and,  when  the  box  is  oj^ened,  and 
its  double  cover  arranged,  it  forms,  he  thinks,  a  very 
decent  little  altar.  Another  box  contains  a  neat  tent 
of  seven  feet  by  five  in  base,  which  covers  his  altar ; 
the  body  of  his  church  is  the  forest,  the  prairie,  the 
river-bank.  He  must  know,  if  possible,  the  Mon- 
tagnais,  a  dialect  of  Algonquin.  He  studies  it  through 
the  medium  of  the  Cree,  and  this  he  acquires  from  an 
old  bhnd  Indian  who  knows  no  French.  The  process 
is  not  detailed,  but  the  result  is  that  he  can  catechize, 
at  least,  in  four  or  five  months. 

It  was  this  same  Oblate,  Father  Farand,  who  built 
the  church  at  Athabasca.  The  Scots  commandant,  a 
Protestant,  of  the  post,  gave  the  place  and  all  the 
material  but  the  wood.  The  priest  cut  that  down  in 
the  forests  with  his  own  hands.  Then  the  commandant 
had  it  brought  to  the  place  and  sawed.  So  the  frame- 
work soon  arose,  and  the  reverend  Oblate's  own 
fingers  made  the  absolutely  necessary  furniture,  the 
tables  and  benches,  as  well  as  the  doors  and  window 
frames.  Two  years  alone  at  this  place ;  never  seeing 
a  coreligionist  except  his  poor  Indians,  he  never  lost 
courage,  nor  regretted  his  seK-sacrifice  for  Mary.' 

As  with  the  priests,  so  with  the  bishop.     We  saw  the 


'  Annales,  xxiv.  323-237. 
16* 


370  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

departure  of  Monseigneur  Proven clier  for  the  Bet- 
ter Land  ;  let  us  look  at  his  successor,  Monseigneur 
Alexander  Tache.  He  is  writing  to  the  venerable^ 
Bishop  of  Marseilles,  Superior  General  of  the  Oblates 
of  Mary.  He  has  visited  the  stations  of  Saint  Anne 
and  Our  Lady  of  Victories,  and  is  setting  forth  from 
Saint  Boniface  to  Cross  Island,  north  latitude  54°. 
The  date  is  February  27th.  Let  us  see  how  this 
bishop  makes  his  visitations.* 

"  Our  small  caravan  was  comprised  as  follows  :  two 
Montagnais  Indians,  with  guns  on  their  shoulders  and 
hatchets  in  their  hands,  each  drawing  a  small  sledge, 
upon  which  was  their  store  of  provisions,  and  wearing 
large  snow-shoes,  opened  the  way,  and,  in  case  of 
need,  removed  any  insurmountable  obstruction ;  behind 
them  plodded  your  humble  servant,  provided  with 
snow-shoes  somewhat  smaller,  on  account  of  the  weak- 
ness of  his  legs ;  next  came  four  of  the  finest  dogs  of 
the  country,  drawing  a  sledge  four  feet  six  inches 
broad  by  six  feet  and  a  haK  in  length,  upon  which 
were  attached  my  cuHnary  apparatus,  my  bed,  ward- 
robe, chapel,  provisions,  as  well  as  the  effects  of  a  young 
half-breed,  who  closed  the  procession,  and  who  had 
charge  of  the  dogs  and  the  sledge.  This  arrangement 
was  a  little  disturbed  the  very  first  day,  since  the  kind- 
hearted  M.  Deschambault,  a  member  of  the  Honorable 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  would  have  me  placed  under 
the  guidance  of  one  of  their  servants.     The  latter  was 

*  Annales,  xvi.  112,  et  seq.     Baltimore :  American  edition. 


IN  NoETH  America.  371 

proyidecl  -vritli  excellent  dogs,  so  that  I  felt  disposed  to 
avail  niTseK  of  the  offer,  and  husband  my  strength. 
This  lazy  project  was,  however,  speedily  abandoned. 
In  the  afternoon,  the  dogs,  not  much  accustomed  to 
fatigue,  found  that  the  honorable  load  which  they  were 
dragging  along  was  too  heavy  for  them  ;  I  was  conse- 
quently obliged  to  dismount,  put  on  my  snow-shoes, 
and  tread  down  the  snow  before  my  enfeebled  steeds, 
a  necessary  labor  for  the  following  nine  days. 

"  To  pitch  our  rude  camp  ere  the  nightfall,  the  first 
thing  of  course  necessary,  is  to  move  away  the  loose 
snow.  For  this,  the  snow-shoes  serve  the  purpose  of 
shovels,  and  the  ice-bound  surface  beneath  is  then 
covered  with  fir  branches.  At  the  same  time,  the 
vigorous  axe  is  actively  engaged  in  decimating  the 
forest  trees.  Their  gigantic  trunks  are  severed  in 
profusion,  the  steel  emits  the  long-desired  spark,  the 
fine  carpet  of  evergreens,  which  has  replaced  the  snow, 
invites  the  travellers  to  take  possession  of  their  new 
abode ;  each  one  places  himself  by  the  fire  to  satisfy 
the  most  imperative  want — that  of  warming  his  limbs, 
benumbed  with  cold ;  some  time  is  spent  in  rubbing 
the  chin,  the  cheeks,  and  the  nose,  to  restore  the  cir- 
culation of  the  blood ;  and  when  the  lips  have  been 
restored  to  their  natural  suppleness,  the  impressions 
received  and  the  adventures  of  the  day  are  dis- 
cussed." 

And  so  on,  day  after  day,  over  the  cold  wastes  plods 
the  holy  Oblate  of  Mary :  now  and  then  stopping  at  a 
post  of  the  Hon.  Company  to  confirm,  baptize,  or  cele- 


372  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

brate  tlie  divine  mysteries.  One  post  the  good  bishop 
is  sorrj  to  place  under  the  ca.re  of  the  nearest  priest, 
because  he  has  no  assistant ;  the  residence  of  that 
nearest  priest  being  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
this  station.  Then  the  poor  savages  are  nearly  all 
pagans  still.  They  have  theft,  murder,  drunkenness, 
the  lowest  depth  of  moral  degradation,  for  their  in- 
veterate habits.  Crees  make  war  upon  Sauteux,  As- 
siniboins,  Nez-Perces,  Black-Feet,  Blood-Eaters.  Here 
and  there  only  a  Christian  family  could  be  found ;  suf- 
fering, but  always  faithful. 

"  Help !  help !"  cries  the  devoted  prelate  to  his 
fiiends  in  France.  "What  a  vast  field  is  here  !  Wliat 
an  abundant  harvest !  It  is  true  that  it  appears  far 
from  being  ripe ;  but  the  dew  of  celestial  grace  is  so 
fi'uctifying  and  powerful,  the  rays  of  the  sun  of  justice 
so  vivifying,  that  they  may  ripen  it  before  the  period 
assigned  by  human  calculation.  The  great  desidera- 
tum is  more  priests.  Young  Oblates,  my  brothers  and 
friends,  cast,  I  entreat  you,  your  regards  in  this  direc- 
tion. In  consecrating  yourselves  to  God,  in  renoun- 
cing all  worldly  enjoyments,  you  took  for  your  device 
these  expressive  words  :  '  Evangelizare  paiiperibiis  misit 
me  Deus :  God  hath  sent  me  to  evangelize  the  poor." 
May  your  zeal  be  exercised  here,  and  may  you  be  one 
day  enabled  to  exclaim,  with  exultation,  '  Pauper es 
evangelizantur !  The  poor  have  the  Gosj)el  preached 
to  them.'*     As  a  recompense  for  your  generosity,  I 

1  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  iv.  18.  «  Ibid,  vii.  22. 


IN  NoKTH  America.  373 

cannot  promise  you  either  wealth,  pleasures,  or  honors ; 
I  know  that  your  generous  hearts  despise  them.  I 
cannot  even  assure  you  that  you  will  always  experi- 
ence those  sensible  joys  that  sometimes  accompany 
the  exercise  of  the  sacred  ministry :  the  work  which  is 
here  confided  to  us  is  one  of  devotedness  and  self- 
abnegation.  Jesus  alone  will  be  your  recompense,  as 
He  alone  is  the  end  of  your  labors.  It  is  always  a 
sufficient  happiness  to  find  only  God,  when  He  is  the 
only  object  of  our  desires." 

Some  consolations,  nevertheless,  there  are.  At  Fort 
Augustus  seventeen  were  confirmed ;  in  another  place 
twenty-two  adults  baptized ;  and  at  Our  Lady  of  Vic- 
tories, a  meeting  with  the  young  Oblate,  Father  Kemas. 
He  had  been  here  four  months  only,  suffering  much. 
At  his  first  coming,  says  the  bishop,  "he  had  no 
house,  and  the  season  was  too  far  advanced  to  think 
of  building  one ;  a  man  of  the  country  gladly  offered 
him  his.  This  habitation  is  about  thirteen  feet  square, 
and  six  and  a  half  high.  It  was  in  this  den  that  your 
poor  child  first  made  himself  acquainted  with  our 
mode  of  life ;  this  was  also  the  episcopal  palace  that 
he  had  to  offer  me,  and  which  I  wilhngiy  accepted. 
The  only  seat  it  contained,  the  decayed  trunk  of  a 
tree,  served  as  my  throne,  and  I  found  it  perfectly 
adapted  to  my  condition  as  a  missionary  bishop. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  I  had  no  worldly  enjoyments, 
which  I  do  not  desire ;  but  I  found  the  inexhaustible 
treasure  of  the  consolations  which  Divine  goodness  is 
pleased  to  bestow  with  a  bountiful  hand  upon  those 


371  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maky 

■who  labor  for  His  glorj.  The  Lake  of  Our  Lady  of 
Tictories  is  the  finest  I  have  seen  in  these  regions. 
Maj  the  Divine  Protectress,  to  whose  patronage  it  is 
confided,  make  it  the  centre  of  a  flourishing  mission !" 

Before  separating,  perhaps  forever  in  this  world,  the 
bishop  has  a  house  built  for  the  young  Oblate  of  the 
Immaculate  Mother. 

"  On  the  1st  of  May,  Our  Lady's  own  peculiar 
month,  after  a  Mass  which  I  offered  up  to  obtain  the 
j)rotection  of  the  most  Holy  Virgin  in  favor  of  our  en- 
terprise, we  proceeded,  with  a  troop  of  men  of  good- 
will, to  the  place  selected  for  the  mission.  One  of  our 
pretty  Indian  canticles,  in  honor  of  our  good  Mother, 
was  the  prelude  to  our  labors,  which  I  commenced 
myself,  by  felling  the  first  tree.  I  then  engaged  work- 
men to  construct,  as  soon  as  possible,  a  house ;  and  I 
trust  that  the  Father  has  already  been  enabled  to  es- 
tablish in  it  his  penates.  On  the  8th  of  May,  in  the 
morning,  I  took  leave  of  him.  You  can  scarcely  im- 
agine what  were  my  feelings  when  giving  him  my 
blessing  and  embracing  him.  Alas !  poor  missionary, 
alone,  in  the  depths  of  the  forest,  uj)on  the  banks  of 
the  cold  lake,  among  a  people  of  whose  language  he 
knows  but  a  few  words  ;  far,  very  far,  from  the  beauti- 
ful France,  from  his  beloved  family,  without  being  as- 
sociated even  with  one  of  the  numerous  brethren  whom 
he  has  adojDted  in  his  rehgious  profession !  AMiat 
noble  devotedness !  what  admii'able  generosity !  O 
holy  religion !  what  power  hast  thou  over  the  human 
heart,  since  thou  art  enabled  to  break  asunder  at  the 


IN  North  America.  375 

same  time  tlie  ties  of  nature  and  tliose  formed  by 
habit!  At  tliy  call  he  forgets  every  thing,  mindful 
only  of  his  divine  Model,  who,  in  order  to  save  us, 
withdrew,  so  to  speak,  from  the  bHss  of  Paradise,  and 
wrested  himself  from  the  ineffable  embraces  of  his  ce- 
lestial Father." 

Sometimes,  however,  as  indeed  is  always  the  rule  in 
this  world,  the  darkest  hour  is  the  hour  before  the 
dawn ;  and  pleasure  comes  fi'om  that  which  threatened 
pain.  Our  Oblates  are  chiefly  Frenchmen ;  and  many 
a  thing  in  the  "Western  wilds  appears  savage  and  per- 
ilous to  those  who  issue  fi'om  the  old  civihzations, 
which  is  a  matter  of  indifference  to  the  trained  Ameri- 
can. Besides,  if  they  only  imagine  danger,  the  pain  of 
that  is  quite  as  great  to  them  as  any  sense  of  reality. 
Only  very  stuj)id  people  laugh  at  imagined  griefs ;  not 
that  the  grief  is  less,  but  that  the  mocker  lacks  in  him- 
self the  quaUty  that  caused  it.  "When  Father  d'Her- 
bomez,  an  Oblate  of  Mary,  in  Oregon,  lost  his  way 
somewhere  between  that  territory  and  Northern  Cah- 
fornia,  his  position  was  not  a  comic  one.  "  It  was  a 
case,"  he  says,  "  for  trying  the  divining  rod.  I  said  a 
'  Hail  Mary,'  and  threw  the  reins  upon  the  neck  of  my 
mule.  At  one  time,  I  began  to  fear  the  Blessed  Virgin 
had  not  heard  my  prayer.  I  had  already  been  going 
at  a  slapping  pace  for  some  time,  and  yet  saw  nothing 
of  our  friends ;  when,  suddenly,  I  came  upon  a  sort  of 
village,  consisting  of  some  twenty  huts,  out  of  which 
streamed  men,  women,  and  children,  carrying  in  their 
hands  some  sort  of  instruments,  I  knew  not  what,  and 


376  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

coming  towards  me.  They  were  black  ;  blacker  than 
any  coal ;  the  white  of  their  eyes  and  of  their  teeth 
seemed  all  the  more  striking,  and  gave  them,  in  truth, 
a  sinister  aspect.  I  was  soon  surrounded  by  them. 
Now,  you  see,  I  was  not  yet  used  to  this  sort  of  thing ; 
the  idea  that  these  folks  might  turn  out  to  be  anthro- 
pophagi made  me  feel  what  I  would  rather  not  ex- 
press. To  be  eaten  before  I  had  even  reached  my 
post,  appeared  to  me  somewhat  premature,  to  say  the 
least  of  it ;  so  I  assumed  as  bold  a  tone  as  I  could,  and 
asked  my  way.  The  only  reply  I  got  was  simply  a 
horse-laugh.  I  was  on  the  point  of  repeating  my 
question,  when  those  on  my  right  hand  uttered  a  shout 
of  joy,  repeating  in  their  lang-uage  a  savage  word 
which  I  did  not  understand.  They  had  evidently 
made  a  discovery  of  something  that  pleased  them,  for 
they  clapped  then-  hands  with  great  glee. 

"  The  chief  now  approached  me.  He  was  distin- 
guished from  the  rest  by  the  superior  manner  in  which 
he  was  tattooed  on  the  face  and  over  the  rest  of  his 
body.  Strings  of  beads,  formed  of  human  teeth,  were 
suspended  from  his  ears  and  neck.  He  made  signs 
for  me  to  dismount,  and  I  felt  by  no  means  at  ease  ; 
resistance,  however,  was  out  of  the  question ;  so,  with- 
out more  ado,  I  commended  myself  to  God  and  to  our 
tender  Mother." 

After  all,  they  were  only  glad  to  see  him,  these  wild 
men.  They  made  him  smoke  the  calumet,  and  he 
f(^und,  on  trial,  that  some  of  them  spoke  a  httle  Eng- 
lish.    It  was  the  sight  of  the  missionary  cross  under 


IN  North  America.  377 

his  cloak  that  made  them  glad,  they  said.  Then  he 
saw  a  couple  of  children  with  our  dear  Lady's  Scapu- 
lar and  medal  round  their  necks ;  and  finally,  he  dis- 
covered that  two-thii-ds  of  them  were  Christians.' 

Father  Brunet  also,  at  La  Crosse,  Hudson's  Bay,  in 
1857,  has  his  consolations.  Let  him  tell  us  a  story  or 
so  of  Maiy's  red  children  at  He  La  Crosse,  Hudson's 
Bay.  One  year,  while  giving  his  mission,  he  was 
struck  by  the  perfect,  beautiful  serenity  of  one  face. 
It  was  the  face  of  a  girl  of  seventeen,  and  when  he 
asked  her  name,  she  told  him  it  was  Angela.'  "  Never," 
he  tells  us,  "  was  name  more  appropriate."  When  the 
mission  was  over,  she,  perishing  already  with  decline, 
followed  her  family  to  the  forests.  With  them  she 
moved  about  fi'om  ]Aace  to  place,  as  their  needs  re- 
quired, suffering  always,  and  always  patient,  daily 
growing  feebler  ;  fading  daily  as  the  forest  leaves  fade 
when  the  fall  comes  on. 

So  she  hved  on  till  Mary's  month  of  May.  Her 
parents  always  expected  her  to  die,  and  told  her  of 
their  apprehensions.  But  she  said,  "  No  :  not  before 
she  should  attend  another  mission."  This  was  her 
only  prayer.  As  if  she  said  with  the  poet-king,  "  One 
thing  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord,  and  will  seek  to  ob- 
tain :  that  I  may  once  more  behold  the  delight  of  the 
Lord,  and  may  visit  His  temple."  '  And  her  sweet 
purity  of  life  obtained  this  favor  for  her.     But  when 

»  Annales,  xvii.  138.  ^  Ibid.,  xxx.  74. 

2  Unam  petii  a  Domino,  lianc  requiram ;  ut  videam  voluptatem 
DoBiini  e.t  visitem  templum  Ejus. — Psalm  sxvi.  4. 


378  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

slie  readied  La  Crosse,  she  was  no  longer  able  to  at- 
tend the  pubhc  services.  But  she  told  the  Oblate  of 
Mar  J,  "  I  knew  that  I  should  see  you  again,  I  had 
asked  that  so  earnestly  from  God.  My  parents  said 
that  I  must  die.  But  I  told  them,  '  Yes,  when  I  should 
arrive  here.'  "  She  only  wanted  one  thing  more,  this 
Indian  Angela,  to  partake  of  the  Food  of  Angels  ;  and 
on  Wliit-Sunday  her  yearning  was  gratified.  The 
priest  told  her  she  was  going,  and  spoke  to  her  only  of 
the  joys  of  the  eternal  home. 

And  so,  on  the  next  Sunday  morning,  he  went  to 
give  her  the  Sacrament  of  Extreme  Unction.  He 
thought  she  slept,  but  it  was  her  agony,  only  so  gentle 
that  it  seemed  hke  sleep.  He  spoke  to  her,  and  she 
opened  her  eyes.  He  gave  her  the  crucifix,  and  she 
kissed  it,  saying,  "Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me  !  Help  me, 
my  Mother  Mary  !"  The  missionary  thought  that  she 
would  last  through  the  night ;  yet,  as  he  turned  away 
to  leave  her,  he  could  not  help  saying,  "  May  the 
angels  conduct  thee  into  Paradise," '  and,  as  he  spoke, 
she  passed  away.  For  God  had  heard  the  last  prayer 
of  the  Oblate  of  Mary,  and  the  angels  came  from 
heaven,  and  took  the  soul  of  their  Sister  Angela  to 
its  rest. 

In  the  same  tribe  lived  the  good  old  chieftain  Em- 
manuel, who,  too  feeble  to  go  out  for  the  chase,  em- 
ployed his  leisure  in  searching  the  forest  for  the  chil- 
dren of  his  nation,  and  teaching  them  the  catechism  ; 

^  Ordo  Commendationis  Animse. 


m  North  America.  379 

and  so  tlie  savage  peoples  tlie  desert  witli  new  cliildreu 
of  God.  And  then  there  is  our  young  friend  Henry, 
idohzed  by  his  tribe,  and  followed  by  all  in  whom  the 
instinct  of  seK-devotion  has  been  cultivated.  He 
writes,  on  one  occasion,  "  My  father,  I  remember  the 
Prayer.  I  keep  myself  altogether  for  God  and  you.  I 
want  to  go  to  heaven ;  Father,  pray  for  me.  When 
you  read  this  letter,  you  w^ll  read  my  heart.  I  have 
hunted  successfully  ;  I  have  many  furs :  I  do  not 
love  them;  I  love  God.  I  tell  you,  Father,  in  mine 
integrity,  I  tell  you  that  I  love  only  God,  and 
that  land  which  is  above,  and  that  I  may  be  pre- 
served for  that  land  and  for  my  good  God,  I  pray 
to  my  Angel,  and,  above  all,  to  Mary,  sweet  Mother 
of  God." 

But  the  lives  of  the  Oblates,  hke  those  of  other  men, 
are  made  up  of  alternations  ;  if  we  have  just  seen  our 
Lady  Mary  as  Health  of  the  Feeble,  as  Protectress,  as 
puissant  over  the  rude  savages,  we  must  also  see  her 
as  "  Consolatrix  AfflMorum,  the  Consoler  of  the  Af- 
flicted." Go  up  then,  with  Father  Grandin,  to  the 
Oblate  Mission  of  Our  Lady  of  Sorrows,  north  of  Lake 
Athabasca.  Let  him  give  another  sketch  or  so  of  the 
life  of  the  missionary. 

"  On  the  feast  of  the  Assumption,  I  had  to  convey 
the  holy  Viaticum  to  a  poor  dying  woman.  Every 
Saturday  the  aged  and  infirm  came  to  encamp  near 
the  Mission,  whence  they  did  not  return  until  the 
Monday  following.  On  this  occasion,  in  order  to  ac- 
company the  Blessed  Sacrament,  they  returned  the 


380  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

same  evening.  Mj  canoe  was  drawn  by  one  man  lame 
and  anotlier  almost  blind ;  I  was  escorted  by  seven  or 
eiglit  other  barks,  fiUed  with  sick  people,  the  strongest 
of  whom  were  old  grandmothers  in  charge  of  infants. 
In  their  infirmity  they  managed  to  ply  the  oars  with 
sufficient  efi'ect  to  keep  up  with  the  canoe  which  car- 
ried Jesus  Christ,  and  to  sing  hymns  with  the  utmost 
exertion  of  their  lungs. 

*'  "We  arrived  at  the  abode  of  the  sick  woman  at 
nightfall.  A  priest  in  Europe  would  be  at  a  loss  how 
to  proceed,  if,  while  bearing  the  sacred  elements  to  his 
sick  people,  he  met  with  houses  arranged  like  the  huts 
of  our  savages.  In  Europe  he  would  find  in  the  habi- 
tations of  the  poorest  at  least  a  table,  prepared  by 
some  friendly  neighbor ;  but  he  would  have  to  enter 
the  Indian  cabin  by  crawHng  on  his  hands  and  feet,  to 
take  great  precautions  against  burning  his  clothes  or 
soiHng  them.  But,  under  such "  circumstances,  where 
is  the  priest  to  deposit  the  Holy  Sacrament  while 
hearing  the  confession  of  the  sick  person?  There  is 
not  a  single  piece  of  furniture  in  the  hovel,  not  even  a 
log  of  wood.  For  my  part,  knowing  beforehand  what 
I  have  to  expect,  I  carry  with  me  a  small  casket,  not 
so  large  as  a  quarto  volume,  which  I  wrap  in  a  piece 
of  clean  linen,  and,  on  arriving  at  the  abode  of  the 
savage,  I  place  it  on  the  ground,  in  the  least  dirty 
place.  This  is  the  throne  upon  which  the  King  of 
kings  is  pleased  to  descend,  while  I  prepare  Him  an- 
other in  the  heart  of  the  sick  person  by  receiving  his 
confession." 


IN  North  America.  381 

Tlien,  again,  is  not  this  a  fit  scene  for  the  Mission  of 
Our  Lad  J  of  Sorrows?  "A  poor  old  Indian  arrived, 
followed  by  bis  wife  and  children,  and  laden  with  a 
heavy  burden.  They  struggled  through  the  deep  snow, 
painfully,  to  the  door  of  the  Mission  House,  and,  with 
bitter  tears,  told  their  errand.  The  burden  which  the 
old  man  carried  was  the  dead  body  of  one  of  his  boys, 
and  his  request  was  for  Christian  burial ;  for  his  faith 
was,  at  least,  as  great  as  his  paternal  love.  When  the 
coflfin  and  grave  had  been  arranged,  I  prepared  to  per- 
form the  burial  service.  The  cemetery  is  at  a  consid- 
erable distance ;  there  is  along  the  road  a  quantity  of 
wood,  which  obstructs  it,  and  there  was  no  one  to 
carry  the  corjpse.  Two  boys,  one  of  whom  was  the 
brother  of  the  deceased,  tried  to  carry  it ;  but  they 
had  not  sufficient  strength,  so  that  the  poor  father  was 
obhged  to  resume  his  burden,  now  considerably  in- 
creased in  weight.  My  clerk  was  a  httle  Indian,  five 
years  old ;  although  he  had  only  the  cross  to  carry,  he 
fell  several  times,  tripped  up  by  the  snow  and  the 
branches  ;  I  was  obliged  to  raise  him,  myself  encum- 
bered with  my  book  and  the  holy  water.  I  had  also 
to  act  as  guide  to  the  old  man,  that  I  might  not  have 
to  lift  him  up  also.  On  arriving  at  the  grave,  I  was 
about  to  let  down  the  corpse  myself,  when  the  poor 
father  told  me  to  wait  for  his  wife,  who  had  not  been 
able  to  arrive  in  time.  When  she  came  up,  the  old 
savage  knelt  do-v^Ti  devotedly,  kissed  the  coffin,  in  which 
act  he  was  imitated  by  his  wife  and  chilch'en.  Return- 
ing all  together  to  the  church,  in  tears,  I  recited  with 


382  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  IMaby 

tliem  the  Eosarj,  and  sang  a  liymn,  to  wliicli  they  re- 
sponded, as  well  as  to  the  Eosarj." ' 

Father  Paul  Durieu"  had  spent  five  years  in  the 
Kocky  Mountains,  wandering  about  from  sohtude  to 
solitude,  from  forest  to  forest,  constantly  exposed  to 
perish  in  torrents,  to  fall  by  the  awful  grip  of  the 
grizzly  bear,  scarcely  knowing  where  to  get  food  fr-om 
day  to  day,  or  shelter  and  rest  at  night.  Stiff  with  cold, 
rain,  and  snow,  wet  to  the  bones  for  days  together ; 
after  his  long,  long  isolation,  getting,  as  best  he  might, 
to  the  next  mission,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  away ; 
staggering  the  last  few  miles  of  the  distance,  and  falling 
at  last  upon  the  threshold,  so  apparently  dying,  that  they 
get  him  to  bed  and  administer  the  Extreme  Unction. 

Plenty  of  sufferings  were  his  !  The  usual  unscrupu- 
lous wickedness  of  dealing  with  the  Indians  in  the 
States,  was  one  source  of  his  troubles.  Cheated  first 
in  the  form  of  obtaining  their  lands ;  second,  in  the 
measurement;  third,  in  payment,  and  generally  in 
every  other  point  of  the  bargain ;  the  poor  American 
was  driven  to  desperation,  rose,  two  or  three  thousand 
strong,  without  disciphne,  ammunition,  or  provision, 
against  the  milHons  of  Celtico-Saxon  civilization  in 
1858.  Paul  Durieu  had  a  mission  of  four  hundred 
Christians;  who,  obedient  to  the  missionary,  refrised 
resolutely  to  join  the  exasperated  tribes.  Of  course, 
they  were  reckoned  as  enemies ;  they  were  obliged  to 
fly  from  their  mission ;  to  leave  their  village,  with  its 


•  Annales,  xix.  343.  '^  Ibid.,  xxxii.  213. 


IN  NoETH  America.  383 

wigwam  clmrcli,  to  the  flames,  and  to  take  refuge  in 
the  mountains. 

Three  mightj  hills  they  crossed  to  reach  their  place 
of  refuge  ;  a  range  of  mountains  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  in  length,  rising  in  enormous  peaks  covered  with 
eternal  snow.  From  the  top  of  the  last  height  which 
divided  them  from  their  new  home,  they  looked  down 
over  the  plain  -where  the  wild  massacre  was  going  on, 
and  shuddered  at  the  thought  of  how  its  thousand 
sparkling  streams  were  tinged  with  blood.  At  first  the 
hunting  was  not  bad;  the  bear  and  roebuck  were 
abundant ;  and,  when  the  hunters,  with  their  Oblate 
Father  among  them,  succeeded  in  finding  a  good  herd, 
they  would  remember  who  sent  it,  and,  kneeling  upon 
the  snow,  they  "  would  sing  the  Ave  3Iaris  Stella,  to 
thank  God,  through  the  medium  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  for  giving  them  food  in  the  wilderness." 

Twice  had  the  savage  pagan  warriors  been  crushed 
by  the  civilized  cannon ;  and  now  furious,  not  tamed, 
by  their  defeats,  they  were  searching  all  the  wilderness 
for  re-enforcements ;  and  one  night  a  fierce  troop  en- 
tered the  Christian  encampment.  They  knew  that  the 
Oblate  of  Immaculate  Mary  had  prevented  his  people 
from  joining  the  fierce  foraj-s  of  the  heathen.  He  heard 
them  coming  and  yelling  out  his  title.  He  fell  upon 
his  knees,  made  a  solemn  act  of  contrition  and  recom- 
mendation of  his  soul  to  God,  and  then  awaited  them. 
[n  a  few  moments  they  poured  into  his  lodge.* 

'  Annales,  xxi.  221. 


384  Devotion  to  the  B,  Y.  Mart 

"  Here  is  tlie  priest,"  he  said.  "  What  do  you  want 
of  him?"  The  chief  showed  the  cords  that  were  to 
bind  him.  The  warriors  brandished  the  guns  and  the 
knives  that  were  intended,  at  least,  to  intimidate  him, 
but  he  said,  "  Do  you  know  in  whose  lodge  you  stand, 
and  to  whom  you  are  speaking  ?  It  is  to  the  minister 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  to  the  messenger  sent  by  God  among 
you ;  to  him  who  is  sacrificing  himself  for  your  salva- 
tion. And  your  minds  are  so  perverse,  your  hearts  so 
ungrateful,  that  you  would  do  him  harm.  Are  you  not 
afraid  that  the  Master  of  Heaven  will  destroy  you  on 
the  spot  ?  If  you  are  thirsting  for  my  blood,  I  am  in 
your  hands :  pierce  the  heart  that  has  always  loved 
you ;  here  it  is,"  and  he  bared  his  breast,  adding : 
"  Strike  if  you  dare,  and  all  will  be  consummated, — 
your  crime  and  my  sacrifice." 

The  heathens  were  sullen  and  silent,  and  Mary's 
Oblate  continued :  "  Tou  want  powder  and  balls ;  I 
have  none.  But,  if  I  had  them,  I  would  not  give  them 
to  you,  nor  would  I  become  associated  with  jout  mas- 
sacres, by  furnishing  you  with  the  means  of  commit- 
ting them.  The  Black-robe  is  the  man  of  peace  and 
charity.  He  is  ready  to  give  up  his  hfe  to  save  yours : 
he  detests  those  who  would  disseminate  death.  Go 
fi'om  my  lodge.  The  Master  of  Life  will  deal  with  you 
some  day.  He  will  take  vengeance  for  what  you  are 
doing  now.  But  I  entreat  Him  to  have  pity  on  you, 
and  to  change  your  hearts,  for  I  cannot  heljj  loving 
you  still."  Then  the  chief  said,  "  He  has  said  it.  It 
is  true.     The  Black-robe  was  and  is  our  best  friend. 


IN  NoETH  America.  385 

Pardon  us,  Black-robe,  we  were  ordered  by  our  chief 
to  come.  "We  go  away  now,  without  doing  barm.  The 
Bkck-robe  shall  always  be  our  friend."  Then  they 
shook  hands  with  him,  and  defiled,  in  their  silent 
way,  down  the  mountain.  Well  for  them,  most 
probably,  for  the  Christian  Indians  soon  returned 
from  the  chase ;  and  had  they  seen  their  priest 
threatened,  bloodshed  would  have  certainly  ensued. 
"But,"  as  they  are  so  fond  of  repeating  in  their 
letters,  "Our  Mother  Immaculate  watches  over  her 
Oblates." 

The  poor  Indians,  preposterously  simple  in  the  eyes 
of  the  schoolmen,  are  so  blessedly  childlike  in  the  eyes 
of  our  God.  One  poor  old  Montagnais  at  the  Mission 
of  Our  Lady  of  Sorrows,  was  found  to  pass  his  Fridays 
altogether  without  eating,  because  fish  was  not  pro- 
curable. Father  Grandin  told  him  that  there  was  no 
obligation  of  abstinence  upon  him.  But  he  said,  "  I 
guessed  so.  Father,  but  I  want  to  see  the  face  of  God, 
and  I  would  rather  do  too  much  than  too  little."  And 
the  savages,  for  so  the  translator  of  the  ''Amiales"  pre- 
fers to  render  the  French  word  sauvages,  the  Indians  of 
Our  Lady  of  Sorrows,  when  they  cannot  get  fish  for 
their  abstinence  days,  have  a  habit  of  picking  out  such 
pieces  as  they  like  least.  One,  only  seventeen  years  old, 
and  newly  baptized,  went  out  to  hunt.  He  passed 
three  days  without  eating.  Then  he  killed  a  bear. 
And  when  he  brought  a  rib  or  so  of  it  to  the  Oblate 
Father,  he  told  him  that  he  had  slain  the  brute  on  a 
Friday,  and  had  eaten  some  of  his  fat.     "I  am  not 

AA  17 


386  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

certain  whether  I  did  right,  Father,  but  I  said  the 
Blessed  Yii'gin's  Eosary  three  times." ' 

And  we  must  remember,  in  our  estimation  of  these 
neophytes,  their  position,  and  its  temptations  and  con- 
sequent perils.  They  are  among  the  savage  pagans  of 
their  race ;  akin  by  blood,  separate  by  religion  ;  and, 
faithful  in  such  circumstances,  can  he  doubt  that  as 
with  Abraham  of  old,'  "  it  will  be  reckoned  to  them  for 
greater  righteousness?"  Father  Farand,  of  Mary's 
Oblates,  shows  us  in  a  sketch  how  wild  these  circum- 
stances of  association  necessarily  are.*     He  says  : 

"  On  my  return,  I  found  an  assemblage  of  fifty  In- 
dians, leaping,  shouting,  firing  guns,  and  incapable  of 
restraining  the  expression  of  their  enthusiasm  and  joy. 
Among  them  were  two  old  men,  still  infidels,  but  par- 
tially acquainted  with  the  sacred  truth.  '  Good  and 
merciful  God,'  exclaimed  one  of  them,  '  I  thank  Thee 
for  having  permitted  me  to  live  to  see  Thy  priest, 
through  whom  I  am  to  obtain  salvation.'  The  Indian 
ceremonies  having  been  duly  performed,  '  Father,'  said 
they,  '  do  you  consider  our  hair  sufficiently  gray?  Are 
we  sufficiently  ripe  for  heaven  ?  We  are  not  attached 
to  the  present  life,  but  we  have  asked  of  God  to  grant 
us  the  favor  of  living  to  see  again  your  face,  and  re- 
ceiving baptism.'  On  hearing  my  affirmative  reply, 
they  dried  their  tears,  and  I  proceeded  to  the  fort. 


'  Annales,  xx.  104.    American  edition. 

'  St.  Paul  to  the  Hebrews. 

'  Annales,  sx.  233.    American  edition. 


IN  North  AivrERiCA.  387 

But  I  was  soon  obliged  to  leare  every  thing ;  numer- 
ous gun-shots  had  just  been  heard,  the  whole  tribe  of 
the  Yellow  Knives  had  arrived,  and  this  was  their 
greeting  to  me. 

"  The  Yellow  Knives  are  much  less  humane  than  the 
Montagnais ;  their  faces  bear  the  impress  of  fi'ightful 
barbarity ;  they  had  come,  however,  to  hear  the  words 
of  salvation.  As  their  language  is  something  like  that 
of  the  Montagnais,  I  was  able  to  instruct  them ;  the 
difficulty  was  to  hear,  for  they  spoke  all  at  once, 
screaming  and  howling  in  the  most  deafening  manner. 
I  could  perceive,  however,  that  they  were  speaking  of 
me  with  admiration.  Some  of  them,  whom  1  had  seen 
four  years  before,  wanted  to  impose  silence  upon  the 
others,  that  they  might  speak  to  me  alone  ;  but  it  was 
quite  impossible  for  any  single  voice  to  be  dis- 
tinguished amid  the  tumult.  This  scene  continued 
until  half-past  eleven  at  night,  when  I  dismissed  them. 
If  the  Yellow  Knives  should  one  day  become  Chris- 
tians, I  feel  convinced  that  they  will  practise  virtue  to 
heroism.  They  have  long  been  the  terror  of  the  other 
savages,  and  they  are  still  the  most  violent ;  but  are 
not  the  most  violent  dispositions  the  most  susceptible 
of  giving  the  brightest  examples  of  virtue  ? 

"I  announced  the  opening  of  the  Mission  for  the 
following  day,  which  was  Sunday,  on  the  morning  of 
which  day,  the  sun  appeared  to  rise  more  bright  and 
radiant  than  usual.  Having  concluded  my  meditation, 
I  rang  the  bell,  and  the  Indians,  at  the  first  signal, 
filled  the  room  that  served  us  as  a  church.   After  Mass 


388  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

and  mstructions,  the  cliief   of   tlie  Tellow  KniA^es,  a 
man  of  good  sense  and  regular  conduct,  remained  with 
me,  together  with  the  second  of  the  old  men,  who,  also, 
had  asked  to  receive  baptism.     '  God,'  said  the  latter 
to  me,  with  an  earnest  look,    'the   God,  whom   you 
preach,  must  be  good  beyond  expression,  since  you  are 
so  good.'     Then,  addressing  himself  to  the  chief   of 
the  Yellow  Knives,    '"WTiat   country  has   given  him 
birth?    who  has  inspired  him  with  the   thought   of 
coming  here  to  instruct  us,  poor,  miserable  creatures, 
who  were  so  deserted  ?'     The  reason  appeared  evident 
to  the  other  old  man,  who  replied :  '  Father,  I  now  see 
you  for  the  first  time,  although  I  have  long  had  the 
desire  of  meeting  you.     But  I  am  happy  in  having 
thought  of   one  thing  that  you  have  preached  to  us. 
You  spoke  to  us  of  the  omnipresence  of  God ;  some  of 
my  tribe  considered  this  very  extraordinary:  well,  I 
then  explained  to  them  how  this  could  be  possible.     If 
the  sun,  which  is  so  small,  lights  all  our  forests  and 
lakes  at  the  same  time,  is  it  astonishing  that  He  who 
has  made  the   sun  should  be   able  to  penetrate   and 
search  even  the  bottom  of  our  hearts?' 

"  But  I  was  not  to  overlook  the  principal  aim  of  my 
voyage.  The  mountains  of  snow  had  already  disap- 
peared under  the  sun's  rays,  and  my  workmen  had 
already  prepared  for  me  all  the  building-wood.  I  took 
two  men  with  me  ;  we  got  upon  a, raft,  upon  which  we 
drifted  towards  Elk  Island.  To  relate  all  the  dangers 
we  incurred  that  day  would  be  impossible.  Some- 
.  times  in  the  water  up  to  the  waist,  we  resolutely  per- 


IN  North  Ameeioa.  389 

sisted  in  clearing  the  ice  which  would  not  give  way ; 
sometimes  we  were  carried  away  by  the  current,  and 
we  were  in  danger  of  disappearing  beneath  these  float- 
ing mountains.  At  one  time,  while  seated  astride  of 
a  flake  of  ice,  I  was  thrown  into  the  water,  and  should 
have  been  drowned  had  I  not  been  an  expert  swimmer. 
I  got  out  upon  another  piece  of  ice,  and  was  caught 
by  my  men  ;  but  I  was  obHged  to  descend  in  the  raft, 
and  return  with  them  to  the  fort  without  having  suc- 
ceeded in  my  attempt.  The  following  day  the  wind 
changed,  and  drifted  away  the  ice.  We  hastened  to 
set  out ;  the  building- wood  was  put  on  board,  and  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  landed  on  the  deserted 
island.  Our  savages  followed  us,  and  we  now  went  to 
work.  For  •  eight  days  I  superintended  the  workmen, 
hatchet  in  hand.  When  the  house  and  chapel  began 
to  require  less  of  my  direction,  I  left  my  workmen  to 
continue  their  labors,  and  resumed  my  missionary 
occupations, 

"  Then  a  new  clan  of  heathens  came  in  upon  us  sud- 
denly, with  salvos  of  musketry  and  rather  discordant 
yells.  Of  these,  only  one  had  been  baptized,  but  he  was 
an  apostle ;  he  had  instructed  his  brethren,  and  they 
might  have  been  taken  for  old  Christians.  Moreover, 
the  numerous  tribes  that  inhabit  the  banks  of  the  great 
Mackenzie  River  are  so  desirous  of  instruction,  that  it 
is  sufficient  to  mitiate  one  alone  to  give  to  all  the  rest 
the  essential  notions  of  Christianity ;  so  that  all  these 
savages,  even  those  who  are  not  baptized,  look  upon 
themselves   as   Christians.      I  devoted  the   whole   of 


390  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

tlie  niglit  to  the  examination  of  tlie  new-comers,  and 
the  next  day  I  was  enabled  to  fix  the  time  for  the 
grand  baptismal  festival.  Providence  added  to  the 
solemnity  of  the  event  in  permitting  us  to  perform 
the  ceremony  in  our  modest  chapel,  which,  although 
unfinished,  was  available  for  the  exigencies  of  the 
occasion. 

"  In  the  morning  I  ascended  a  small  hill  that  over- 
looks the  house  and  chapel,  that  I  might  more  fi'eely 
devote  myself  to  prayer.  Beneath  me  lay  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  Indian  huts,  and  I  heard  a  few  voices 
muttering  prayers.  On  the  previous  evening  I  had 
exhorted  them  all  to  prayer,  and  they  spent  the  night 
in  singing  hymns  and  reciting  the  Kosary.  At  break  of 
day,  some  of  them,  overcome  by  fatigue,  had  gone  to 
sleep ;  others  were  still  engaged  in  prayer.  On  the 
signal  being  given,  they  all  assembled.  After  Mass, 
I  called  over  the  names,  and  thirty-six  adults,  ad- 
mirably disposed,  received  the  sacrament  of  regen- 
eration. A  few  days  after,  eighty  other  adults  were 
sufficiently  well  prepared,  and  enjoyed  the  same  happi- 
ness." 

And  then  how  gratifying  it  is,  to  see  these  gi'eat 
heroes,  these  warriors  of  God,  unmentioned  in  news- 
papers, unquarrelled  for  by  parties,  unaware  of  their 
own  gi'andeur,  remembering  so  tenderly  the  father^ 
mother,  httle  sister,  whom  they  left  at  home  in  kindly 
France.  Living  in  the  wilds  as  God  made  them,  uuen- 
thralled  by  the  extreme  elegance  and  dehcacy  of  North 
American  civilization,  these  men,  amid  their  wander- 


IN  North  America.  391 

ings,  and  perils,  and  noble  seK-sacrifice,  have  liberty 
at  least  to  remember  humanity,  their  family,  and  the 
home,  so  well  worth  loving,  but  which  they  left  to  be 
Oblates  of  Mary. 


392  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Mart's  Oblatbs  on  the  Atlantic  and  in  the  Land  of  the  Daootah. 

There  are  other  missions,  too,  less  near  the  North- 
ern Pole,  but  no  less  fruitful  in  suffering.  To  me  there 
is  something  inexpressibly  touching  in  the  address  of 
Father  Bernard's  letter  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence. 

"Mt  Good  ajtd  Deahest  Mother:' 

"  I  remember  that  when  I  was  still  very  young,  1 
once  read  to  you  a  letter  from  a  missionary,  in  which 
he  spoke  of  the  labors  of  his  apostleship.  He  repre- 
sented himself  as  catechizing  his  people  late  at  night, 
seated  upon  a  beam  of  his  half-erected  chapel.  This 
scene  was  hghted  by  a  splendid  moonhght ;  and  the 
secret  desire  of  imitating  the  good  priest  was  enkindled 
in  my  heart.  It  has  pleased  God  to  aid,  by  His  grace, 
the  sentiments  with  which  He  then  inspired  me.  It  is 
now  eleven  years  since  I  left  France  to  proceed  to 
Canada,  where  I  have  already  built  two  churches,  both 
dedicated  to  the  Apostle  St.  Peter,  my  glorious  patron. 
For  the  means  to  construct  these  two  churches,  I  had 


'  Aimales,  xx.  238.    American  edition. 


m  NoKTH  Ameeica.  393 

to  turn  beggar,  and  I  have  now  sufficient  to  complete 
tliem. 

"  For  four  years,  I  exercised  tlie  ministry  among  the 
French  Canadians,  and  it  was  not  until  last  spring  that 
I  saw  an  Indian  tribe,  in  their  normal  state,  in  the 
midst  of  the  woods.     The  dream  of  my  early  years  is 
now  realized,  and  it  is  to  you,  my  good  Mother,  that  I 
address  the  first  narrative  of  my  wanderings.     I  left 
Montreal  on  the  13th  of  last  May,  and  Quebec  on  the 
20th,  accompanied  by  Fathers  Bubel,  appointed  to  the 
chief  direction  of  the  Mission ;  Arnaud,  missionary  to 
the  Nascapis  ;  and  Crepman,  sent  to  Labrador.     On 
our  way  to  the  Mission,  in  the  bark  canoes,  we  recited 
the  Rosary  and  prayed  together.     "We  mingled  our 
voices  in  singing  the  3IagniJicat ;  to  the  eye  of  faith,  it 
was    a    splendid    sight   to  witness    these    thu-ty-four 
travellers  praying  daily  in  common.     And  at  the  Mis- 
sion we  find  all  the  Indian  Christians.     On  our  arrival 
the  women  run  and  pick  up  dry  wood.     They  light  a 
fire  and  boU  the  pot.    The  children  gambol,  and  run  in 
quest  of  wild  fruit,  while  the  men  watch,  gun  on  arm, 
upon  some  crag.     Tou  may,  if  you  like,  apply  here  the 
proverb,  '  that  you  should  not  sell  the  bear's  skin  be- 
fore having  killed  it.'     Despite  all  the  proverbs  in  the 
world,  the  pot  boils ;  it  must  have  victims — it  wiU  have 
them!     Have  patience!     Do   you  see  that  napesMsh 
(httle  boy),  nine  years  old,  with  smiling  lips  and  a 
quick  step?     "With  as  little  concern  as  possible,  he 
says  to  you,  as  he  passes :  *  Nota  shiship ;  Father,  some 
game!'     Good,  good!    by  the  aid  of  the  "murderous 

17* 


394  Devotion  to  B.  V.  Maey 

lead  we  will  liave  some  godes,  some  moniac,  for  dinner, 
and  tliere  will  be  some  left  for  this  evening.  The  meal 
over,  the  voyage  is  resumed  until  nightfall,  when 
anchor  is  cast,  and  all  again  land.  A  large  fire  is 
lighted;  the  game  will  soon  be  cooked;  some  coarse 
black  tea  will  serve  as  a  beverage.  After  supper,  aU, 
at  a  given  signal,  assemble  around  the  large  fire,  and 
recite,  on  their  knees,  the  Rosary.  This  is  followed  by 
night  prayers,  after  which  an  Indian,  with  a  clear  voice, 
intones,  in  his  own  language,  three  times,  the  Farce 
Domine,  and  three  times,  also,  that  invocation  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin, — '  Sanda  Maria,  refugium  pecoatarum, 
ora  pro  nobis.'  Then  is  added  that  touching  invoca- 
tion from  the  office  of  the  Church  :  '  Into  Thy  hands, 
O  Lord !  I  commend  my  spirit.  Thou  hast  redeemed 
as,  O  Lord  God  of  truth  !  Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and 
to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost !  Keep  us,  O  Lord, 
as  the  apple  of  thine  eye.  Protect  us  under  the 
shadow  of  thy  wings!'*  SubUme  accents,  how  they 
move  the  soul  of  the  Christian  praying  in  solitude  be- 
neath a  star-covered  sky !" 

At  Mingan,  they  find  ninety  Christian  Indian  fami- 
lies assembled,  and  "  Mingan  possesses  a  delightful 
little  chapel,  surmounted  by  a  belfry  terminated  by  a 
small  arrow,  and  ornamented  with  a  cross.  A  bell  is 
used  to  call  to  Mass  the  nomadic  people  encamped  in 
the  neighborhood.     There  is  a  Mass  at  five  o'clock, 


'  Holy  Mary,  Refuge  of  Sinners ;  pray  for  us. 

'  Conclusion  of  the  Compline  Office,  Roman  Breviary. 


IN  North  Ameeica.  895 

preceded  by  prayer,  and  accompanied  by  the  singing 
of  hymns.  This  is  followed  by  instruction  ;  and,  at 
seven  o'clock,  by  the  last  Mass.  An  Indian  woman, 
whom  I  asked  if  she  were  not  fatigued  with  remaining 
so  long  at  chapel,  and  always  in  a  squatting  posture, 
replied :  '  I  wish  the  Fathers  would  remain  with  us 
always.  Can  we  make  too  much  of  them  during  the 
days  of  the  Mission  ?  Ah !  if  you  knew  how  long  the 
months  appear  when  we  are  without  priests !'  '  And 
what,'  said  I,  '  do  you  do  on  a  Sunday  when  we  are  not 
here?  Do  the  men  hunt?'  'Never,  Father,  unless 
they  have  been  unsuccessful  the  night,  or  night  but 
one,  before.  The  Great  Spirit  does  not  wish  his  chil- 
dren to  die  of  hunger.  About  the  time  when  we  know 
that  the  High  Mass  is  being  offered  up  in  the  parish 
churches  of  Canada,  we  read  prayers  and  recite  the 
Hosary,  and  so  also  at  the  time  for  Vespers.  This  is 
all  our  consolation  while  awaiting  the  return  of  the 
Mission.' 

"  These  words,  I  am  bound  to  say,  were  fully  justi- 
fied in  their  conduct.  You  would  be  delighted  to  see 
them  go  about  their  avocations,  the  women  inside  the 
cabins,  the  men  outside ;  some  fishing,  some  hunting, 
and  others  building  bark  canoes.  You  would  be 
equally  surprised  to  see  them  leave  off  work  to  go  to 
confession.  You  would  not,  perhaps,  find  one  who 
would  content  himself  with  going  only  once.  At  night- 
fall they  assembled  at  the  chapel  to  sing  hymns,  which 
are  followed  by  the  recitation  of  the  Kosary,  prayer,  and 
benediction,  and  exposition  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 


396  Deyoiton  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

"  The  devotions  are  terminated  by  the  singing  of  a 
hymn  to  Mary,  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation 
of  the  first  and  simple  strophe  : 

" '  How  I  love  to  look  upon  the  Queen  of  Heaven's 
sacred  image !  My  heart  and  my  voice  have  always 
understood  her  language.  She  says  to  me,  with  a 
smile — Come,  my  child.' 

"  I  must  also  speak  to  you  of  the  procession  in  honor 
of  the  Blessed  Vii'gin,  which  generally  closes  the  Mis- 
sion. At  that  to  which  I  allude,  a  statue  of  our  good 
Mother,  brought  from  France,  was  borne  by  four 
young  Montagnais  girls,  while  four  others  held  the 
ends  of  the  ribbons.  All  of  them  might  have  said, 
with  the  Virgin  of  Solomon,  '  Nigra  sum,  sed  formosa  : ' 
we  are  black,  but  this  by  no  means  prevents  us  from 
being  pleasing  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven.'  During  the 
procession,  a  company  of  hunters  from  time  to  time 
discharged  their  guns.  Each  report  was  instantly  an- 
swered by  the  cannon  fired  on  board  the  Canadienne, 
moored  in  front  of  the  chapel;  and  her  numerous 
crew,  at  least  the  major  part  of  it,  had  come,  by  our 
invitation,  to  form  an  escort  to  the  image  of  the  Pro- 
tectress of  France  and  Canada.  You  will  be  as- 
tonished at  the  grandeur  of  this  ceremony,  if  you  re- 
flect that  it  took  place  at  a  distance  of  four  hundred 
miles  from  Quebec,  upon  an  uncultivated  coast,  and  in 
a  wood,  in  which,  in  spite  of  the  gnats  and  musquitos, 
I  had  opened  a  road,  eighteen  feet  wide  and  five  hun- 


Song  of  Songs. 


IN  NoKTH  America.  397 

drecl  yards  long.  We  inaugurated  it  on  tlie  previous 
evening  by  planting  a  large  cross,  to  wliicli  disconso- 
late souls  may  come  hereafter  for  strength  and  con- 
solation." 

"We  have  seen,  this  year,  1863,  that  struggle  of  the 
Sioux  for  the  possession  of  Minnesota,  which  will 
probably  be  their  last.  We  have  read  of  their  out- 
rages, and  of  the  hanging  of  some  seventy  of  them. 
Let  us  see  how  a  civilized  woman  proposes  to  argue 
the  matter  with  them.  It  will  give  us  an  idea  of  the 
ferocity  and  savage  hate  for  all  whites  which  exist, 
as  life-elements,  in  the  bosoms  of  the  untamable  Daco- 
tah.  "  Minnesota,"  says  Mrs.  Jane  G.  Swisshelm, 
"will  never  make  peace  with  the  Sioux  Indians. 
Wlienever  they  get  out  from  under  Uncle  Samuel's 
wing,  we  will  hunt  them,  shoot  them,  set  traps  for 
them,  put  out  poisoned  halt  for  them,  kill  them  by  every 
means  we  would  use  to  exterminate  panthers.  We  can- 
not breathe  the  same  air  with  these  demon  violators 
of  women,  crucifiers  of  infants.  Every  Minnesota  man 
loTio  has  a  soul,  and  can  get  a  rifle,  will  go  to  shooting 
Indians,  and  he  who  hesitates  will  be  blackballed  by 
every  Minnesota  woman,  and  posted  as  a  coward  in 
every  Minnesota  house." ' 

Now,  if  this  be  a  just  way  of  dealing,  even  retribu- 
tively  just,  with  the  Dacotah,  we  can  gain  an  insight 
into  the  perils  of  the  Oblate  Father  Mestre  on  his 
journey   through    the   country   of    these  indomitable 

'  Lecture  delivered  by  tlie  above-named  lady,  in  Washington,  on 
Saturday,  Feb.  31  or  28,  1863. 


398  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

savages  less  tlian  three  years  ago.'  "I  would  not 
write  you  these  horrors,"  he  says  to  Monseigneur  de 
Mazenod,  "  were  it  not  to  afford  you  joy  and  inspire 
you  with  gratitude,  by  proving  to  you  once  more  that, 
in  the  midst  of  deserts  the  most  frightful  and  formida- 
ble, the  Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate  are  visibly  pro- 
tected by  her  whom  you  teach  them  daily  to  invoke  as 
their  Protectress  and  Mother. 

"  Nature  herseK  gives  us  the  first  idea  of  what  our 
journey  is  to  be,  for,  about  nine  o'clock  at  night,  just 
as  we  had  all  taken  to  our  blankets,  and  were  thinking 
of  taking  a  little  repose  on  the  hard  ground  that  was 
to  be  our  travelling  couch,  a  most  violent  storm  broke 
out.  The  wind,  blowing  with  fury,  continually  lifted 
up  our  tent  and  threatened  to  overturn  it,  while  the 
clouds  poured  down  upon  us  a  torrent  of  rain.  For  a 
good  hour  we  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  preserving 
oui-  slight  place  of  shelter,  and  in  protecting  our  pro- 
visions against  the  water,  which  broke  in  upon  us  at 
all  sides.  When  the  storm  had  ceased,  and  the  sky 
became  again  serene,  a  tempest  of  another  nature  was 
suddenly  heard  in  the  tent  next  to  ours,  and  one, 
too,  which  gave  us  much  more  alarm  than  the  one 
against  which  we  had  been  so  vigorously  struggling. 
The  three  haK-breeds,  who  had  shown  us  the  greatest 
civility,  having  been  visited  in  the  evening  by  some 
comrades,  invited  them  to  drink,  and  di-ank  with  them 
to  excess ;  then  followed  shouts  and  songs,  which  were 


Annales,  xxii.  229.    Baltimore  edition. 


IN  North  America.  399 

tliose  of  true  Iroquois  :  but  these  were  soon  succeeded 
by  quarrels,  and,  as  a  fimsh  to  tlie  feast,  by  sanguinary 
battles,  for  one  of  the  combatants  received  two  knife- 
cuts  in  the  orbit  of  the  right  eye.  This  scene  lasted 
until  three  o'clock  in  the  morning," 

Then  they  strike  off  into  those  boundless  plains 
where  the  eye  seldom  sees  any  trace  of  human  life 
between  itseK  and  the  far  horizon.  But  in  a  few  days 
a  straggling  Indian  or  trader  would  meet  them,  and 
pass  them  rapidly  with  the  news  that  the  Sioux  were 
up  ;  "  and  soon,"  says  Father  Mestre,  "  we  saw,  in 
the  direction  of  the  northwest,  an  immense  fire,  and 
our  people  recognized  in  this  a  practice  of  the  Sioux, 
who  must  have  discovered  us  during  the  daytime,  and 
who,  by  this  means,  were  giving  to  their  brethren,  dis- 
persed on  the  prairie,  the  signal  for  a  rendezvous,  that 
they  might  be  able  to  attack  us  with  greater  advan- 
tage.    Tliis  supposition  was  but  too  true. 

"It  so  happened  that,  under  these  fearful  circum- 
stances, we  had  with  us  only  four  young  half-breeds, 
not  more  than  eighteen  years  old,  and  a  man  of  about 
forty,  but  who  appeared  least  courageous  of  all.  It  was 
in  vain  that  we  sought  to  rouse  him  from  the  preoccu- 
pations that  preyed  upon  us,  as  well  as  him ;  in  vain 
did  we  exhort  him  to  put  his  whole  trust  in  God  and 
the  good  Mary.  Alas!  it  would  seem  he  anticipated 
the  horrible  scene  in  which,  eleven  days  later,  he  was 
to  fall  a  victim  to  the  perfidy  of  the  Sioux.  About  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  just  as  we  were  retiring  within 
our  camps,  perceiving  him  still  in  the  same  dejected 


400  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

mood,  '  Come,'  said  I  to  liim,  '  I  •will  stand  sentinel, 
and  see  that  our  horses  do  not  go  astray,  and  give  the 
alarm  at  the  first  sign  of  danger.'  And,  accordingly, 
with  my  gun  on  my  left  arm,  and  my  Eosary  in  my 
right  hand,  I  set  to  walking  about,  in  all  directions, 
around  our  carts,  stopping  at  every  step  to  listen." 

So  they  go  on,  over  those  seas  of  land,  till,  on  the 
twentieth  day  of  their  journey,  they  "  suddenly  heard 
the  almost  simultaneous  report  of  several  guns.  'It 
is  all  over  with  us,'  said  the  men  one  to  another  j  '  the 
enemy  is  behind  the  hiU;  we  are  lost!'  'Lost,'  ex- 
claimed Father  Moulin  and  I,  as  if  instinctively 
repeating  the  word ;  '  no,  no,  it  is  not  possible !  the 
All-Powerful  hand  that  has  protected  us  thus  far,  will 
not  abandon  us.  "We  are  here  two  missionaries,  two 
children  of  Mary  Immaculate  :  our  glorious  Mother  is 
with  us.' " 

The  shots  came  from  a  band  of  Dacotahs  who  had 
fired  at  three  straggHng  half-breeds.  The  latter  now 
came  in  and  swelled  the  drunken,  mixed-blood  escort 
of  the  unfortunate  Missionaries.  These  fellows  told 
the  Oblate  Fathers  that  there  were  only  twenty-five 
miles  left  of  their  journey  towards  the  Mission  of 
Saint  Joseph  ;  and  that  there  was  no  further  danger 
from  the  Sioux.  The  truth  was,  that  they  had  still 
one  hundred  miles  to  traverse,  and  that  through  the 
very  central  camping  ground  of  those  redoubtable 
heathens.  But  "  God  and  Mary"  was  their  watch- 
word ;  and  earnest,  practical  helief  in  that  which  they 
professed,  was  their  strength.      But  tlie  luggage   of 


IN  North  America.  401 

tlieir  escort  consisted  chiefly  in  whiskey :  the  unbred 
brutes  were  always  drunk  and  quarrelling;  and  the 
two  priests,  "  offered  to  God  for  Mary,"  determined 
to  go  in  advance  of  the  caravan  :  hoping  and  beheving 
to  find  that  she,  who  is  the  "  Star  of  the  Sea,"  would 
prove  for  them  also  the  "  Star  of  the  Prairies." 

They  believed  that  they  had  twenty-five  miles  to  go, 
and  they  started :  Father  Moulio,  with  his  bre\iary 
under  one  arm,  and  their  stock  of  provisions  swung  on 
an  umbrella  over  the  shoulder  of  the  other ;  while 
Father  Mestre  bore  a  traveUing-bag,  weighing  thirty 
pounds,  attached  to  the  muzzle  of  his  rifle.  So  they 
go  on,  from  daybreak  until  three  o'clock,  the  twenty- 
five  miles  of  supposition  gradually  lengthening  out  into 
the  hundred  miles  of  reality.  So  the  night  fell  at  last, 
and  there  was  nothing  left  but  to  lie  down  beneath  the 
tufted  willows  which  fringed  the  watercourse  that 
guided  them,  with  trust  in  God  and  His  Immaculate 
Mother,  for  their  sole  protection  from  the  night-dew, 
the  prowling  woK,  the  grizzly  bear,  and  the  grizzlier 
Dacotah. 

"It  is  needless,"  says  Mary's  Oblate,  "to  describe 
the  horrors  of  that  long  night.  Half  rechned  upon  the 
damp  ground,  we  could  not  sleep  for  a  moment,  for, 
at  every  movement  of  the  leaves,  we  imagined  our- 
selves assailed  by  enemies  of  all  sorts ;  and  as  I  placed 
much  rehance  on  my  giin,  I  never,  for  an  instant, 
parted  with  it.  Ah,  with  what  joy  we  witnessed  the 
break  of  day  about  four  o'clock  nest  morning  !  After 
having  offered  up  an  act  of  thanksgiving  to  God,  and 

BB 


402  Deyotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

implored  tlie  intercession  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  for  our 
protection,  we  sought  the  best  means  of  crossing  the 
river;  but  what  was  our  surprise,  on  reaching  the 
opposite  bank,  to  discover  an  immense  plain  between 
us  and  the  long-desired  mountain !" — the  mountain  at 
the  foot  of  which  they  fancied  St.  Joseph's  mission  lay. 
Therefore,  they  march  on  bravely,  and  find,  at  seven 
o'clock,  that  no  Mission  is  there.  Courage!  it  is  at 
the  other  side  of  the  mountain !  So  they  set  a  stout 
heart  to  a  steep  brae,  and  climb  the  hiU.  And  on  the 
top  they  find  the  beginning  of  a  new  and  apparently 
limitless  plain,  stretching  off  far  to  the  base  of  another 
and  a  taller  peak. 

Then  Father  Moulin  is  struck  with  an  attack  of 
ague,  fi'om  which  he  had  been  for  some  time  suffering, 
and  falling  down,  declares  his  inability  to  go  any  fur- 
.  ther.  What  is  to  be  done  ?  The  escort  cannot  over- 
take them  in  less  than  two  days :  they  have  had  no  food 
for  twenty-four  hours ;  on  this  elevated  plateau  there  is 
not  one  drop  of  water  to  quench  their  parching  thirst. 

Then  says  Mestre  :  "  '  What  shall  I  do,  my  brother  ? 
Shall  I  lie  down  beside  you  that  we  may  die  together, 
or  shall  I  leave  you,  and  strive  to  reach  the  Mission  ?' 
And  Father  Moulin  answered  :  *  Go  forward,  friend,  if 
3^ou  have  still  any  strength  remaining.  It  may  be  that 
St.  Joseph's  is  at  no  great  distance.  Ah  !  if  you  could 
but  reach  it  without  accident,  you  would  probably  find 
there  some  charitable  souls  who  would  fly  to  my  assist- 
ance, and  then — '  '  Leave  that  to  me,'  said  I,  with 
my  heart  swollen  with  grief.     '  Ever  since  we  were  left 


IN  North  America.  403 

to  ourselves  in  this  frightful  solitude,  God  has  delivered 
us  from  so  many  dangers,  that  He  will  still  be  mj  pro- 
tector and  guide,  and  will  hkewise  watch  over  you.' 
With  these  words,  I  placed  my  gun  and  bag  at  the 
feet  of  my  dear  brother,  and  now,  that  I  had  divested 
myseK  of  this  heavy  burden,  I  felt  capable  of  walking 
several  miles  before  nightfall. 

"  I  must  admit,  that  when  I  saw  my  beloved  brother, 
hitherto  so  courageous,  lying  helpless  on  the  ground, 
I  could  not  help  feehng  discouraged.  For  a  moment 
I  thought  it  was  all  over  with  us ;  but  Providence,  who 
had  reserved  for  us  this  severe  trial,  came  to  my  aid ; 
and  no  longer  thinking  of  the  pains  in  my  legs,  or  the 
numerous  blisters  that  had  almost  rendered  me  in- 
capable of  putting  my  feet  to  the  ground,  I  set  out 
with  almost  as  much  energy  as  at  the  moment  of 
departure. 

"  I  had  scarcely  proceeded  three  miles,  when  I  sud- 
denly perceived,  a  few  yards  before  me,  what  appeared 
to  be  a  man's  head  in  the  grass.  '  Hold !'  said  I  to 
myself,  '  there  is  a  Sioux  lying  in  wait  for  me.'  I  re- 
solved, however,  to  advance,  trembhng  with  fear,  and 
recommending  myself  to  God  with  all  the  fervor  that 
an  almost  certain  and  immediate  death  was  calculated 
to  inspire.  On  approaching  the  so-much-dreaded  ob- 
ject, I  distinguished  a  black  cap  fixed  on  the  end  of  a 
stick  set  up  in  the  very  path  along  which  I  was  walk- 
ing. On  approaching  this  trophy,  I  saw  also  two 
arrows  on  each  side  of  the  road,  and  beneath  the  cap, 
a  large  knife,  very  recently  steeped  in  blood.     This 


4:04:  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

was  quite  sufficient  to  convince  me  that  tlie  Sioux  must 
liave  committed  tliere  a  double  murder  within  a  few 
days.  Looking  around  me,  I  perceived  on  the  grass, 
which  appeared  much  trampled,  some  traces  of  blood 
and  shreds  of  clothes  ;  thirty  or  forty  yards  behind  the 
spot,  a  knot  of  dwarf  willows,  the  branches  of  which 
were  for  the  most  part  twisted  or  broken,  bore  exi- 
dence  that  the  enemy  had  made  this  their  ambush." 

The  next  encounter  was  with  a  woK — no  dog-Hke 
coyote  of  the  milder  prairies,  but  a  gaunt,  tawny-gray 
woK  of  the  north.  Poor  Father  Mestre  had  nothing 
to  do  for  it  but  trust  in  God,  and  to  keep  his  umbrella 
pointed  at  the  brute.  By  and  by  it  slunk  away,  and 
the  Oblate  felt  better,  until  at  sunset,  when,  having 
finished  his  Office,  he  heard  the  growl  of  more  than 
one  grizzly  bear.  No  hunter's  joy  was  his  at  the 
sound  ;  for  the  unaided  umbrella  is  not  reliable  in  the 
case  of  the  bear.  "Besides,"  he  says,  " I  could  scarcely 
bear  up  against  the  pain  that  was  caused  by  the  con- 
traction of  the  sinews ;  I  was  also  parched  "wdth  thirst, 
which  tended  to  increase  the  state  of  weakness  to 
which  I  was  reduced.  I  tried,  however,  to  drag  myself 
along  for  some  time,  firmly  resolved  to  keep  the  prom- 
ise I  had  made  to  Father  Mouhn,  to  walk  day  and 
night.  I  also  expected  to  meet  with  some  lake  or 
.stream  at  which  I  should  be  able  to  quench  my  thirst. 
But  at  nine  o'clock,  finding  myself  deceived  in  my  ex- 
pectations, and  my  strength  completely  exhausted,  I 
was  forced  to  make  a  halt.  I  took  shelter  for  the  night 
under  some  bushes  densely  covered  with  fohage,  and, 


IN  North  America.  405 

before  going  to  sleep,  recommended  myseK  with  all  my 
heart  to  God,  and  to  her  who  is  justly  designated  the 
Comforter  of  the  afflicted.  Apprehensive  that  I  might 
only  awake  in  the  presence  of  the  great  Judge,  I  thrice 
repeated  my  act  of  contrition,  then  painfully  stretching 
myseK  upon  the  already  damp  gi-ass,  with  my  cross  in 
one  hand  and  my  Kosary  in  the  other,  I  laid  my  head 
on  my  breviary,  and  crossed  my  arms  on  my  breast. 
In  this  posture,  I  waited  patiently  until  sleep  came  to 
close  my  eyehds.  But  the  sweat  in  which  my  whole 
body  was  suffused,  the  dew  which  had  abeady  wet  my 
clothes,  distressed  me  very  much ;  and  it  was  not  till 
after  having  lain  long  and  painfully  awake,  that  a  deep 
sleep  enabled  me  to  forget  for  a  time  the  fatigue  and 
suffering  that  I  had  endured  during  the  whole  day. 
At  ten  o'clock  I  was  suddenly  roused  by  the  howling 
of  the  wolves." 

So  up  he  must  rise  and  stagger  on  again  :  but  he 
blessed  God  for  that,  for  eleven  o'clock  brought  him  to 
a  river,  shadowed  by  dwarf  red-oak  and  maple.  Here 
he  quenched  his  thirst,  and,  after  one  or  two  failiires, 
succeeded  in  climbing  up  into  a  triple  tree-fork.  Here 
he  felt  disposed  to  mock  at  the  howling  of  the  now 
numerous  wolves,  for  he  knew  that  the  brute  could  not 
chmb,  but  a  deeper  growl  in  the  distance  moderated 
his  triumph,  and  bade  him  remember  that  the  tallest 
trees  are  accessible  to  the  bear.  But  he  got  some  httle 
rest,  though  broken,  in  his  forest  arm-chair,  and  at 
daybreak  he  felt  better  able  to  continue  his  route. 
And  so  still  fasting ;  chewing  the  blossoms  of  certain 


406  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

odoriferous  plants  for  liunger,  aud  licking  the  dew 
fi'om  the  large  oak  leaves  to  quencli  Lis  thirst,  he  found 
his  way  at  length  to  his  brother  Oblates  of  Mary  Im- 
maculate, at  then-  mountain  Mission  of  Saint  Joseph. 

He  had  been  separated  from  Father  Moulin  forty- 
two  Jiours,  during  aU  which  time  that  priest  lay,  pros- 
trate with  fever,  on  the  open  prairie.  But  ten  stout 
men  hurried  oJS"  at  once  for  him,  and  it  pleased  our 
Lord  to  save  him  for  future  usefulness  on  earth. 

But  Father  Goiffon,  of  Saint  Boniface,  caught  in  a 
storm  of  rain,  hail,  and  snow,  saw  his  horse  perish  in 
a  marsh,  in  December,  1860.  His  efforts  to  save  the 
poor  brute  exhausted  his  own  remaining  strength,  and 
he  fell  beside  the  creatui'e  that  had  carried  him.  Five 
days  and  nights  he  lay  there  in  the  knee-deep,  half- 
fiozen  slush,  pillowed  on  and  nourished  by  the  dead 
horse  only. 

On  the  sixth  day,  his  wild  shouts  of  dehrium  at- 
tracted attention,  and  they  found  liim  lying  cramped 
there,  and,  "with  crazy  hospitality,  inviting  all  to  share 
his  dehcious  banquet  of  horse-flesh.  Saved,  he,  but 
at  the  expense  of  one  leg,  and  the  foot  of  the  other. 
A  day  or  two  after  these  were  amputated,  the  mission 
house  took  fire,  and  when  they  came  to  move  him,  he 
said,  "  Leave  me  to  die  :  go  save  those  who  are  useful : 
as  for  me,  I  am  no  longer  good  for  any  thing."  And 
they  had  scarcely  carried  him  out  when  the  fire  seized 
upon  and  consumed  the  room  wherein  he  had  lain,' 

1  Annales,  xxii.  344.    Baltimore. 


IN  NoKTH  America.  407 

Such  is  our  meagre  sketch  of  the  Oblates  of  Immac- 
ulate Mary.  Ai-e  not  these  the  legitimate  successors 
of  those  gi-and  men,  who  strode  in  conquest  over  this 
vast  land  thi-ee  centui'ies  ago  ?  Do  not  the  spiiits  of 
Marquette,  and  Jogaies,  of  LaUemant,  Bressani,  Daniel, 
Brebeuf,  look  do-rni  from  heaven  in  benediction  on 
these  completers  of  their  work?  What,  to  these  he- 
roes, are  the  toils  they  undergo,  the  ills  they  suffer,  the 
death  that  they  confi'ont !  All  have  for  their  battle- 
caU  and  rallying  cry,  these  words  of  one  of  their  num- 
ber, now  laboring  in  Texas  : '  "  Blessed  forever  be  the 
Bficred  names  of  Jesus  and  of  Mary,  to  whom  we  ap- 
pertain for  time  and  for  eternity !  too  happy  we  ia 
having  given  up  our  lives  for  them." 

1  Father  Mary  Sivy,  Oblate  of  Mary  Immaculate.  See  Annales, 
xxii.  251.    Baltimore  edition. 


408  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Makt 


CHAPTEE  XX. 

The  Company  of  Jesus  aqatn — The  Immaoitlate  Conoeption  ht  the  Bo- 
real Latitudes — Devotion  ln  Minnesota — Our  Lady  of  the  Eockt 
Mountains. 

We  are  not  to  suppose,  however,  that  none  others 
are  offered  for  Mary  but  those  who  are  so  by  title  as 
well  as  practice.  In  those  same  cold  regions,  side  by 
side  with  this  fresh  young  Knighthood  of  the  Immac- 
ulate Mother,  labor  some  secular  missionaries  :  a  few 
sons  of  Saint  Benedict,  and,  of  course,  the  inevitable 
Jesuit.  Pioneer  warrior  of  God  to-day  as  he  was 
three  hundred  years  ago,  the  soldier  of  the  Company 
of  Jesus  preserves  the  spirit,  features,  and  discipline 
of  those  who  evangehzed  the  Abnaki  and  Algonquin  of 
old,  who  paid  for  the  souls  of  the  Iroquois  with  their 
blood,  as  their  Master  had  bought  their  souls  with  EQs 
most  precious  Blood.  Year  after  year,  new  tribes, 
from  among  the  thousands  who  stiU  wander  between 
Hudson's  Bay  and  the  Pacific,  come  in  search  of  the 
Black-robe,  or  are  sought  out  by  him.  The  Dacotah 
even  respects  him,  and  if  he  have  harmed  any  it  was 
by  mistake,  and  aU  other  tribes  exhibit  to-day  the  wel- 
come of  Hiawatha,  as  in  the  days  when  Daniel  and  Mar- 
quette first  visited  the  cool  shores  of  Gitche  Gumme.^ 

'  The  Big-Sea  Water :  Lake  Superior.    The  address  of  Hiawatha, 
in  the  Boem,  is  a  translation  merelv  from  Shea's  "  Llississippi." 


IN  North  America.  409 

From  the  distant  land  of  Wabun, 
From  the  furthest  realms  of  morning, 
Came  the  Black-robe  chief,  the  Prophet, 
He  the  Priest  of  Prayer,  the  pale-face, 
With  his  guides  and  his  companions. 

And  the  noble  Hiawatha, 
With  his  hands  aloft  extended, 
Held  aloft  in  sign  of  welcome, 
Waited,  full  of  exultation, 
Till  the  birch  canoe  with  paddles 
Grated  on  the  shining  pebbles. 
Stranded  on  the  sandy  margin, 
TUl  the  Black-robe  chief,  the  pale-face. 
With  the  cross  upon  his  bosom, 
Landed  on  the  sandy  margin. 

Then  the  joyous  Hiawatha 
Cried  aloud  and  spake  in  this  wise : 
"  Beautiful  is  the  sun,  0  strangers. 
When  you  come  so  far  to  see  us ! 
All  our  town  in  peace  awaits  you* 
All  our  doors  stand  open  for  you  ; 
You  shall  enter  all  our  wigwams, 
For  the  heart's  right  hand  we  give  you." 

And  the  Black-robe  chief  made  answer. 
Stammered  in  his  speech  a  little. 
Speaking  words  yet  unfamiliar : 
"  Peace  be  with  you,  Hiawatha, 
Peace  be  with  you  and  your  people, 
Peace  of  prayer,  and  peace  of  pardon. 
Peace  of  Christ,  and  joy  of  Mary  1" ' 

Tlie  Jesuit  of  tlie  Missions  of  Canada,  so  called,  still 
found  at  the  old  grounds,  Saut  Saint  Mary's,  Holy 
Cross,  and  Sacred  Heart,  has  now  a  more  modern  cen- 
tral post,  at  the  extreme  northern  verge  of  Lake  Su- 
perior,  the  Mission   of  the  Immaculate   Conception. 

'  Longfellow's  "  Song  of  Hiawatha,"  sxii. 


410  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mam 

rrom  this  they  go  forth  to  visit  their  numerous  sta- 
tions, at  thirty,  sixty,  and  one  hundred  miles  distance. 
Northward  to  the  nomad  tribes  which  stray  over  the 
wastes  which  are  clad  with  six  months  of  winter ;  over 
vast  turbulent  streams,  and  countless  lakes,  and  un- 
sheltered level  lands,  where  the  biting  wind  sweeps 
barrierless.  The  Iroquois  who,  of  old,  was  the  peril 
of  the  Mission,  and  so  often  the  murderer  of  the  mis- 
sionary, is  found  now  amid  the  far  western  tribes,  a 
missionary  himself :  a  retainer  and  earnest  lover  of  the 
early  tradition  of  the  Black-robes.'  But  if  that  kind 
of  martyrdom  has  nearly  ceased,  the  slow,  silent  mar- 
tyrdom by  toil,  starvation,  frost,  still  allures  the  de- 
voted soul  from  the  joys  of  the  world,  to  seK-sacrifice 
for  the  Hearts  of  Jesus  and  Mary. 

The  letters  from  the  Mission  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Im- 
maculate Conception  in  1854,  differ  from  those  of  1654 
only  in  this,  that  the  scalping-knife,  the  stake,  and  the 
tomahawk,  figure  in  them  less  freely,  and  that  conso- 
lations are  more  abundant  from  the  fidehty  of  the  poor 
Indian  Christians  who  inhabit  those  wilds.  Father 
Frumiot  writes  to  his  Superior  such  a  letter  as  Dablon 
might  have  written  to  his.'' 

"  I  will  not  here  describe  to  you  our  poverty,  our 
trials,  and  misfortunes.     A  hasty  glance  at  our  fii'st 


'  We  shall  see  the  efforts  of  these  Iroquois  missionaries  directly, 
and  in  Father  de  Smet's  "  Sketches,"  p.  91,  where  he  attributes  the 
conversion  of  those  Flatheads,  under  God,  to  the  once  blood-lapping 
Iroquois. 

2  Annales,  sv.  181.    American  edition. 


m  North  America.  411 

proceedings  would  show  you  that  our  only  church  was 
a  small  chapel,  extemporized  in  one  day,  and  built  of 
bark  ;  and  in  the  next  place,  you  would  witness  the 
sinister  glare  of  a  fire  amid  the  winter's  ice,  destroying 
our  new  house,  raised  by  the  penny  subscriptions  of 
the  poor  and  the  orphans.  You  would  also  see  that, 
for  eighteen  months,  death  has  been  carrying  off,  with- 
out pity,  our  beloved  children,  and  thus  causing  the 
Black-gowns  and  their  prayers  to  be  blasphemed ;  for 
the  superstition  or  the  bad  faith  of  these  people  leads 
them  to  attribute  to  us  these  scourges  of  Divine  wrath. 

"  But  I  did  not  intend  to  make  you  share  with  us 
the  bitter  cup  of  our  afflictions.  Let  us  change  our 
theme.  Ton  have  had  a  glance  at  the  cross  and  the 
thorns :  behold  now,  Mary,  the  mother  of  good  hope, 
with  a  countenance  radiant  with  love,  and  her  hands 
filled  with  heavenly  blessings,  which  she  scatters,  like 
a  fertilizing  shower,  upon  the  heads  of  her  little  In- 
dian family.  Ah !  if  it  is  true  that  no  one  need  de- 
spair beneath  the  shadow  of  her  name,  how  can  we  im- 
agine that  she  will  permit  this  nascent  Mission  to 
perish,  since  its  future  destiny  is  placed  under  the 
glorious  title  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  ?  Is  not 
this  that  tower  of  David,  from  which  a  thousand 
shields  are  suspended  for  the  defence  of  those  whom  it 
is  to  protect  ?  Moreover,  was  there  ever  an  age  in 
which  this  prerogative  presented  an  aspect  so  promis- 
ing for  the  future  ?  Where  could  we  find,  at  the  present 
day,  a  more  secure  pledge  of  protection,  hope,  and  hfe? 

"The  experience  of  the  past  akeady  seems  to  an- 


412  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

swer  for  the  future.  The  finger  of  God  has  stamped 
our  work,  which  is  His  own,  with  a  lasting  impress  of 
the  Cross  ;  but  from  the  maternal  heart  of  Mary,  a  few 
drops  of  consoHng  balm  have  ah-eady  fallen  upon  us." 
The  Government  of  the  United  States,  in  pursuance  of 
its  immemorial  custom  of  extruding  the  Indians  from 
its  territories,  forced  large  bands  of  the  unfortunate 
red-men,  who  stiU  lingered  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
into  the  northern  lands  beyond  the  great  lakes ;  and 
these  immigrations  are  hailed  by  the  missionary  as 
new  grain  to  be  cultured  and  reaped  for  the  harvest 
of  God. 

"  I  have  already,"  says  the  pious  Father,  "  baptized 
the  first-fruits  of  these  future  neophytes :  of  those  who, 
with  God's  permission,  are  to  be  the  objects  of  our 
affection  here,  our  consolation  on  earth,  and  our  crown 
of  glory  in  heaven."  When  this  Indian  woman  is 
questioned  by  Father  Fremiot,  as  to  the  motive  which 
induced  her  to  embrace  the  Prayer,  she  tells  him  this 
story. 

"  One  day,  I  went  with  my  three  children  to  an 
island  in  Lake  Nipigon,  about  ten  miles  from  the  land. 
While  eating  some  myrtle-berries  and  other  wild  fruits, 
a  violent  wind  rose  upon  the  lake,  and  the  waves, 
gradually  rising,  at  length  carried  off  my  canoe,  which 
I  had  left  close  to  the  bank.  There  I  was,  alone  and 
helpless,  upon  a  desert  isle,  with  my  children ;  I 
thought  we  should  all  be  lost.  I  did  not,  however, 
give  way  to  despair,  but  resolved  to  find  out  some 
means  of  saving  my  life  and  that  of  my  children.    I 


m  North  Aj^ieeica.  413 

made  a  sort  of  raft  with  two  pieces  of  wood  tied  to- 
getlier  with  flexible  roots,  and  crouching  upon  it  as  if 
in  a  canoe,  I  seized  an  oar  and  pushed  off.  The  storm 
had  fortunately  been  succeeded  by  a  complete  calm, 
under  favor  of  which,  I  reached  the  land  without  acci- 
dent. But  I  had  no  sooner  landed,  than  the  waves 
began  to  rise  anew,  so  that  had  I  been  still  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  lake,  I  must  have  perished.  I  hastened  in 
quest  of  a  canoe,  that  I  might  return  to  fetch  my  dear 
children,  whose  cries  of  distress  I  could  still  hear  in 
the  distance.  At  length  I  discovered  the  object  of  my 
search,  and  immediately  embarked  to  return.  The 
water  had  again  become  calm,  and  I  reached  my  chil- 
dren, just  before  sunset,  and  found  them  all  ahve. 
Then  it  was  that  I  recollected  hearing  our  old  men 
speak  of  the  Great  Spirit,  when  I  was  still  a  child. 
'  He  is  above,'  they  used  to  say ;  '  He  it  is  who  made 
the  earth  and  all  things ;  He  is  the  Master  of  Life.'  I 
had  never  thought  of  this  for  a  long  period ;  but  I  now 
felt  that  it  was  He  who  had  sent  this  extraordinary 
calm  ;  that  it  was  to  Him  my  children  and  I  were  in- 
debted for  our  lives.  And  hence,  when  I  heard  the 
prayer  of  the  Great  Spirit  mentioned,  I  felt  an  earnest 
desire  to  learn  and  embrace  it.'  "And  indeed,  this 
poor  woman  surprised  every  one  by  the  promptitude 
with  which  she  learnt  the  Christian  truths,  although 
she  only  heard  them  publicly  announced  from  time  to 
time  in  the  church.  I  gave  this  good  neophyte  the 
name  of  Mary  Anne." 

As  for  his  Catholics,  it   is  nearly  all   consolation. 


414  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mart 

They  are  so  unciviKzed  and  barbarous  as  to  practise 
what  they  profess.  One  of  these  savages,  closely  ex- 
amined a  year  after  his  baptism  by  Father  de  Smet, 
said,  with  some  surprise  in  his  tone  :  "  No,  Father,  I 
have  done  none  of  these  things.  Did  I  not  promise 
the  Master  of  Life  and  you  to  abstain  from  them?" 
Here,  about  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion, they  are  lite  nearly  all  the  other  Catholic  Indians 
— they  have  "  become  Kke  little  children."  Except  the 
Kijrie  eleison,  which  they  sing,  Father  Fremiot  says,  in 
Latin,^  they  sing,  congregationally,  the  Mass  and  Yes- 
X)ers,  in  their  own  dialect,  to  the  notes  of  the  Eoman 
chant ;  and,  at  sundown,  on  the  day  of  the  Lord,  they 
gather,  for  the  fourth  time  that  day,  to  recite  in  common 
the  Eosary  of  Our  Lady  Mary  the  Immaculate. 

It  is  cold  there  in  the  winter.  "A  young  man,  who 
was  travelling  in  the  woods,  arrived  here  with  his 
cheeks  and  chin  frozen  black  and  blue  ;  and  I  myself, 
on  going  to  the  fort  by  a  road  through  the  forests, 
took  off  my  gloves  for  about  two  minutes  to  wipe  my 
spectacles,  covered  with  a  double  coat  of  ice,  caused 
by  the  respiration,  for  I  had  a  shawl  over  my  face; 
but  I  found  it  utterly  impracticable.  My  breath,  in- 
stead of  melting  the  ice,  only  served  to  thicken  it.  I 
could  not  have  thought  that  this  operation  would  have 
frozen  my  fingers ;  but  I  became  painfully  aware  of  it 
a  quarter  of  an  hoar  afterwards,  on  entering  a  house 
and  experiencing  a  sudden  transition  from  cold  to  heat, 


'  Annales,  xv.  185. 


IN  North  America.  415 

I  went  out  immediately  to  rub  tliem  in  snow ;  but  it 
was  already  a  little  too  late,  and  tliis  painful  sensation 
continued  for  two  or  three  days.     On  this  occasion, 
also,  we  were  obliged  to  thaw  the  chalice  three  times 
during  one  Mass,  although  there  was  by  the  side  of 
the  priest  a  chafingdish,  and  two  stoves  in  the  chapel. 
But  what  wiU  appear*  to  you  still  more  incredible  is, 
that  the  wine  actually  fi-oze  in  the  cruet,  placed  only 
half  a  foot  above  the  stove!     A  journey  during  this 
season  is  not  exactly  like  a  pleasure  excursion.     Ima- 
gine that  on   some    occasions,  as  was  the  case  last 
spring,  we  have  to  walk  on  the  melting  ice,  softened 
to  the  depth  of  half  a  foot,  or  make  our  way,  with  a 
watchful  eye,  across   the   clefts  which  present  them- 
selves on  all  sides.     Sometimes,  also,  as  it  happened 
this  winter,  we  have  to  cross  the  woods,  without  any 
road  to  guide  us,  wandering  fi-om  the  early  morning 
till  nine  or  ten  at  night.     Once,  for  example,  in  cross- 
ing a  lake  at  night  by  the  light  of  birch-bark  torches, 
we  tread  upon  the  newly-skimmed  surface  of  a  wide 
crevice,  and  are  well   drenched  for  our  carelessness ; 
but  the  December  wind  soon  freezes  our  garments, 
and  we  do  not  feel  the  wet.     Only  sometimes,  on  these 
occasions,  we  recall  our  recreation  walks  over  the  hills 
of  sunny  southern  France,  where,  somewhat  nearer  to 
the  skyey  regions,  we  raised  our  voices  to  her  who  is 
their  Queen,  in  the  strains  of  the  Salve  Regina. 

"  This,  however,  is  not  the  south  of  France.  There 
is  our  trip  to  Prince's  Bay — latitude  45°  50';  air  very 
pure  there  in  the  month  of  January ;  bracing,  indeed, 


416  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

as  weU-wra23ped-iip  old  geutlemen  call  it  wlien  they 
see  a  youngster  shiver.  "We  started  for  tlie  bay  at  two 
in  the  morning,  intending  to  walk  across  the  ice  and  to 
sleep  on  the  other  side.  There  had  been  a  recent 
thaw,  but  we  had  forgotten  all  about  that,  and  now  it 
recurred  to  our  remembrance. 

"  There  was,  indeed,  still  some  ice ;  but  it  was  so 
thin  that  it  would  have  been  folly  to  venture  upon  it. 
We  were  consequently  obliged  to  make  up  our  minds 
to  encamp  even  at  this  unseasonable  hour.  The  snow 
was  falling  in  large  flakes,  and  we  could  scarcely  see 
two  steps  before  us.  We  began  by  setting  fire  to  a 
birch-tree.  The  bark  immediately  ignited  to  the  very 
top ;  and,  by  the  light  of  this  burning  column,  one 
shook  the  snow  from  the  trees  under  which  we  were  to 
camp  ;  another,  using  his  snow-shoe  as  a  substitute  for 
a  shovel,  cleared  the  place  of  encampment;  and  a  third 
went  in  quest  of  dried  wood  to  feed  the  fire  during  the 
night.  After  having  taken  a  frugal  meal,  each  one  lay 
down  to  rest  upon  a  few  fir-branches,  near  the  extem- 
poraneous hearth. 

"  I  wrapped  myseK  up  as  well  as  I  could  in  my 
blanket  and  bufi'alo  skin  ;  but  although  the  snow  had 
been  shaken  from  the  tree  under  which  I  was  lying, 
there  was  stiU  some  left,  which,  being  melted  by  the 
smoke,  fell  in  large  drops  upon  my  face.  Of  this 
circumstance  I  became  painfully  aware,  when  I  was 
wakened  out  of  my  first  sleep  by  the  cold,  for  the  sky 
had  become  clear,  and  a  cold,  frosty  wind  blew  across 
the  desert.     I  awoke  my  men,  who  went  to  cut  some 


IN  North  America.  417 

wood  by  moonliglit.  For  my  part,  I  turned  my  face 
down  upon  the  bed,  leaving  tlie  drops  of  water  to  con- 
geal quietly  over  my  bead.  In  tbe  morning,  tbe  ice  of 
the  bay  was  broken  into  thousands  of  pieces.  How- 
ever, after  a  long  winding,  we  arrived  at  length  at  the 
house  where  we  were  so  anxious  to  arrive  the  night 
before.  There  we  spent  the  remamder  of  the  day ;  and 
although  the  boards  were  our  only  bed,  we  slept  there 
much  better  than  beneath  the  dropping  of  the  forest 
trees. 

"But  what  are  all  these  adventures,  fatigues,  and  even 
dangers !  If  at  this  X3rice,  the  priest  should  only  suc- 
ceed in  adding  one  neophyte  to  this  mysterious  num- 
ber of  the  elect,  he  would  have  no  reason  to  regret  the 
sacrifice  he  has  made.  He  would  recall  to  mind  the 
sentence  of  Saint  Francis  Xavier :  '  To  go  to  the 
world's  end  to  save  a  soul  and  then  die,  is  an  enviable 
fate.'  " 

It  has  happened  to  this  missionary  to  be  caught  in 
a  storm,  towards  nightfall,  on  that  grand  inland  sea, 
and  in  order  to  save  the  canoe  and  its  contents,  to  land 
upon  an  island  rock,  as  the  only  visible  shelter  and 
place  of  safety.  On  the  top  of  the  rock,  some  eigh- 
teen feet  high,  they  found  a  few  dead  fir-trees,  which 
gave  them  fire  at  least.  Around  them  lay  many  well- 
bleached  bones  of  the  wild  Huron  and  Iroquois  of  old. 
There  they  slept,  and  when  morning  dawned,  they 
added  to  their  usual  prayers  those  two  grand  hymns  to 
sweet  Mary  Mother,  the  Salve  Begina  and  the  Inviolata 
There  they  pass,  fasting,  the  whole  day  :  very  appro- 
cc 


418  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

priate  that  fasting,  tliinks  the  Jesuit,  "  for  it  is  Friday 
in  Ember  week,"  and  with  the  coming  down  of  the 
shadows,  came  also  a  furious  and  night-long  rain- 
storm, "  with  peals  of  thunder  and  terrible  flashes  of 
lightning." 

Father  Fremiot  thus  continues  his  narrative  :  "  At 
length,  on  Saturday,  the  wind  veering  to  the  northeast, 
roUs  the  waves,  gradually  increasing  in  size,  against 
the  rock  to  which  our  canoe  is  fastened,  and  makes  us 
apprehensive  that,  if  we  defer  any  longer,  we  shall  not 
be  able  to  launch  her  again.  But  wdiither  shall  we  go? 
The  storm  prevents  us  from  returning  to  the  Immacu- 
late Conception.     Let  us  cross  the  lake. 

"  "We  say  the  titany  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  pre- 
pare for  the  worst.  The  wind  is  on  our  side,  and  we 
set  up  our  blanket  for  a  sail.  By  this  means  we  ad- 
vance a  little  ;  but  the  north  wind  gradually  increases 
the  force  of  its  blast ;  enormous  waves,  white  with 
foam,  rise  before  us  in  rapid  succession  ;  we  cut  them 
in  the  middle,  however,  tolerably  well ;  but  when  we 
arrived  in  the  open  water,  about  half-way  across,  the 
billows  become  irregular  and  the  danger  serious.  Our 
only  rower  begins  to  lose  courage.  '  I  said  how  it 
would  be,'  he  muttered  ;  '  the  wind  is  too  strong  ;  let 
us  return.'  The  other  was  of  a  different  opinion.  '  Let 
us  return,'  I  said  myself,  '  if  there  is  less  danger  than 
in  advancing.'  '  The  danger  is  equal,'  he  replied. 
.  *  Courage,  then,  my  boys :  mind  how  you  meet  the 
waves,  and  place  confidence  in  Him  for  whose  glory  we 
are  laboring.     "We  have  not  undertaken  this  voyage 


IN  IS'ORTH   AlVEERICA.  419 

from  motives  of  pleasure  or  interest,  but  solely  for  the 
service  of  the  Great  Spirit ;  He  will  vt^atch  over  us.  I 
will  pray  while  you  work.'  '  Yes,  Father,  intercede 
earnestly  with  the  Great  Spirit,'  said  the  oarsman,  a 
heathen.  '  Without  doubt,  my  son  ;  do  you  also  pray 
to  Him  in  your  heart,  and  ply  your  oar  vigorously.' 
And,  while  I  was  repeating  my  Kosary  very  devoutly, 
I  saw  the  young  man  moving  his  lips  as  if  reciting  a 
prayer." 

Next  day  the  pangs  of  hunger  are  rather  sharp,  but 
one  effect  of  this  is  salutary.  "  Wlien  we  repeat  the 
'  Our  Father,'  we  have  unusual  earnestness  in  the  peti- 
tion '  Give  us  to-day  our  daily  bread.'  And  we  did 
indeed  recite  it  with  fervor,  accompanied  with  a  prayer 
to  the  Blessed  Virgin  for  calm  on  the  following  day. 
Iter  para  tiitnm;"  and  so  at  length  on  Sunday  "we 
reach  Eock  Harbor  in  time  to  recite  with  the  Indians 
the  Eosary  and  the  Litany  of  the  Blessed  Virgin." 
And  then  Father  Fremiot  signs  himself,  "  Tours  faith- 
fully, in  the  Sacred  Hearts  of  Jesus  and  of  Mary." 

While  these,  then,  keep  the  fields  which  the  prowess 
of  their  predecessors  won  for  our  Blessed  Mother  east 
of  the  Father  of  Waters,  others  start  westward  from 
that  stream,  and  conquering  the  wild  tribes  of  the 
bison-trodden  prairies,  pass  the  savage  gorges  and  tall 
peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  plant  the  everlast- 
ing Cross  upon  the  strand  of  the  Northern  Pacific. 
Their  limits  are,  hitherward,  the  Mississippi  States ; 
beyond,  the  long  shore-line  of  the  great  ocean  as  it 
runs  northerly  from  California,  past  Oregon,  and  then 


420  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

trends  westward  and  northward  to  55°  north  latitude, 
near  the  regions  of  perpetual  snows.  On  our  way 
thither,  if  we  go  by  the  north,  let  us  hear  from  Father 
FayoUe,  ApostoHc  Missionary  in  Minnesota,  his  means 
of  confidence  when,  in  1856,  he  enters  the  territory  of 
the  terri])le  Sioux.  He  tells  us  that  "  having  set  out 
from  Samt  Paul's  on  the  6th  of  August,  I  reached,  on 
the  8th,  the  caravan  of  Pembina,  at  the  point  where  it 
crosses  the  Mississippi.  This  was  my  Rubicon.  I 
passed  it  in  a  Hght  canoe  ;  I  then  went  on  my  knees  to 
offer  my  hfe  to  God,  to  implore  his  protection,  and  to 
recommend  myself  to  Mary."  Then  when  he  comes 
into  the  very  presence  of  the  peril,  it  is  thus  that  he 
takes  courage  and  imparts  it. 

"Although  but  a  small  number,  the  half-breeds  were 
confident  of  their  abihty  to  defeat  three  hundi-ed  Sioux. 
The  former  are  brave,  and  well  skilled  in  warfare  ; 
they  load  and  fire,  on  horseback,  with  extraordinary 
rapidity,  and  in  this  consists  their  great  superiority 
over  the  savages.  Besides  this,  we  placed  our  hopes 
in  God;  we  reflected  that  Mary  was  with  us.  My 
companions  observed;  'There  are  many  persons  at 
Pembina  who  are  praying  for  us,  and  who  are  perform- 
ing exercises  of  devotion  for  our  intention.'  "We  said 
prayers  in  common  every  evening,  and  when,  in 
conclusion,  I  recommended  our  voyage  to  the  good 
Mother,  they  responded  with  especial  devotion.  On 
Simday,  we  had  Mass  in  the  morning,  and  the  Rosary 
in  the  evening.  On  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption,  the 
altar  was  erected  on  the  banks  of  a  beautiful  lake,  and 


IN  North  America.  421 

lighted  up  by  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun.  This  was 
probably  the  first  time  that  Jesus  Christ  had  been 
ofi'ered  up  in  these  sohtudes ;  the  first  time  that  the 
triumph  of  the  Queen  of  Angels  had  been  mentioned, 
or  the  happiness  of  loving  her.  Hope  in  Mary  is 
honey  of  the  desert,  the  refuge  of  the  traveller,  an  im- 
pregnable rampart  against  every  enemy.  Whenever 
you  go  to  Notre  Dame,  beg  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  that 
my  love  for  her  may  increase,  that  I  may  labor  for  her 
honor  until  the  end  of  my  life,  and  that  at  my  last 
hour  I  may  obtain  her  powerful  intercession."  * 

In  far  Kansas,  Oregon,  and  those  Kocky  Mountain 
lands,  however,  as  all  scholars  know  and  speak  of,  as 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  aware  of,  to 
its  benefit,  what  dominion  based  on  love  there  is 
among  the  wild  men,  is  given  to  the  Black-robe  by 
these  grateful  Americans.  Start  from  the  central 
point,  St.  Louis,  and  push  your  way  anywhither 
towards  the  Eocky  Mountains,  and  you  will  be  sure, 
by  and  by,  to  see  a  picture  like  this. 

" '  On  the  western  slope  of  these  mountains, 
Dwells  in  his  little  village  the  Black-robe  chief  of  the  Mission. 
Mnch  he  teaches  the  people,  and  tells  them  of  Mary  and  Jesus  ; 
Loud  laugh  their  hearts  with  joy,  and  weep  with  pain,  as  they  hear 

him.' 
Thither  they  turned  their  steeds ;  and  behind  a  spur  of  the  moun- 
tains, 
Just  as  the  sun  went  down,  they  heard  a  murmur  of  voices. 
And  in  a  meadow  green  and  broad,  by  the  banks  of  a  river, 
Saw  the  tents  of  the  Christians,  the  tents  of  the  Jesuit  Mission. 

'  Annales,  sxx.  88.    Baltimore  edition. 


422  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

TJader  a  towering  oak,  that  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  village, 
Knelt  the  Black-robe  chief  with  his  children.    A  crucifix  fastened 
High  on  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  and  overshadowed  by  grape-vines, 
Looked  with  its  agonized  face  on  the  multitude  kneeling  beneath  it. 
This  was  their  rural  chapel.     Aloft,  through  the  intricate  arches 
Of  its  aerial  roof,  arose  the  chant  of  their  vespers, 
Mingling  its  notes  with  the  soft  susurrus  and  sighs  of  the  branches. 
Silent,  with  heads  uncovered,  the  travellers,  nearer  approaching. 
Knelt  on  the  swarded  floor,  and  joined  in  the  evening  devotions. 
But  when  the  service  was  done,  and  the  benediction  had  fallen 
Forth  from  the  hands  of  the  priest,  like  seed  from  the  hands  of  the 

sower. 
Slowly  the  reverend  man  advanced  to  the  strangers,  and  bade  them 

Welcome." ' 

Ex  uno  disce  omnes.  We  sliall  only  follow  one  of 
these  servants  and  cliildren  of  Mary,  and  bim  so 
slio-litlv  that  this  shall  not  merit  to  be  called  even  a 
sketch,  for,  in  all  that  vast  territory,  I  know  not  whether 
there  be  any  thing,  great  or  small,  that  he  has  not 
seen ;  out  of  which  he  has  not  drawn  profit  for  human 
souls,  instruction  for  human  minds.  The  authorities 
of  Washington  thank  him  for  the  topography  of  those 
lands  of  theirs ;  the  army  asks  his  attendance,  with  all 
respect  for  their  valor,  as  a  safeguard.  No  savage  so 
wild,  as  will  not,  at  least,  listen  to  him.  As  he  threads 
the  immemorial  forests  he  classifies  the  trees ;  as  he 
moves  over  the  prairies  he  notes  and  catalogues  the 
wild-flower  and  the  esculent  or  medicinal  weed. 

The  haunts  and  habits  of  the  grizzly  bear  and  woK ; 
the  marks  and  seasons  of  the  rock  antelope,  and  tall, 
peak-loving  wild  sheep ;  the  dam  of  the  beaver ;  the 


'  Longfellow's  "  Evangeline,"  iv. 


IN  North  America.  423 

larlving-place  of  the  mink;  the  spot  where  the  otter 
oftenest  phmges  in  the  pool ;  the  hne  where  the  rabbit 
begins  to  grow  white,  and  that  from  which  the  wiry 
ermine  leaps  almost  invisible  over  snows  no  more  spot- 
less, save  the  black  tail  tip,  than  himself :  all  these, 
and  the  veins  of  the  minerals,  are  most  silently  taken 
note  of  by  this  apostle.  Eead  one  letter,  and  you 
would  say  this  man  has  done  little  but  hunt ;  from  a 
second,  you  would  fancy  him  a  naturalist ;  from  a 
third,  a  mere  painter  or  poet  revelling  in  the  grandeur 
and  beauty  of  the  nature  he  surveys — were  it  not  that 
in  all  you  see  the  presence  of  God  ;  the  ceaseless  zeal 
for  His  greater  glory ;  the  devotion,  as  a  mental  char- 
acter, to  the  Heart  of  Jesus ;  the  child's  loving  rehance 
on  the  gentle  heart  of  Immaculate  Mother  Mary. 

He  is  a  man  past  sixty,  twenty-three  years  of  them 
on  these  Indian  Missions;  robust,  tail,  straight  as  a 
pine,  silver  haii-ed  now  as  the  poplar  of  the  country. 
He  is  grave,  quiet,  simple,  dignified.  Bronzed,  silent 
and  quick,  observant-eyed  as  he  is,  he  might  be  a 
Delaware  or  Omaha  chief.  Very  earnest  and  straight- 
forward, but  of  feminine  gentleness  and  modesty  :  full, 
also,  of  merriment  of  the  silent  kind ;  laughing  more 
with  the  eyes  than  with  the  hps.  A  foe  to  no  man  Hv- 
ing ;  a  friend  whom  all  your  prosperity  can  attach  no 
more  closely,  whom  all  your  adversity  could  not  sepa- 
rate from  your  side.  An  Indian  Missionary,  this  man  ; 
a  Black-robe,  servant  of  God,  a  child  of  Mercy,  a  sol- 
dier of  the  Company  of  Jesus. 
It  was  in  the  year  1840  that  Father  de  Smet  started 


424  Devotion  to  the  B,  V.  Mary 

on  his  first  expedition  for  tlae  Indians  witli  whom  his 
name  was  to  be  so  tenderly  and  indissolubly  united. 
The  first  force  of  savages  whom  he  meets  are  the  She- 
yennes,  who  welcome  him  warmly,  their  great  chief 
ordering  three  of  his  fattest  dogs  to  be  served  up  as  a 
banquet  for  the  Black-robe  whom  he  delighted  to 
honor/  By  July,  he  encounters  the  Flathead  deputa- 
tion who  have  come  to  meet  him,  and  in  the  Octave  of 
Our  Lady's  Visitation  they  reach  the  great  camp. 
Ah,  how  they  welcome  him !  with  what  earnest  joy ! 
with  what  simplicity  of  devotion!  " Kaikolinzosten, 
the  Great  Spirit,"  so  speaks  the  high  chief,  "  has  ac- 
complished our  wishes  and  our  hearts  swell  with  joy." 
That  night  two  thousand  red-skins  assembled  be- 
fore the  Black-robe's  lodge  for  night  prayers.  By  the 
next  year,  the  Mission  of  Saint  Mary's  was  completely 
estabHshed,  and  the  Flatheads  and  other  tribes  formed 
a  Christian  people.  In  all  his  wanderings  at  this  time, 
he  was  treated  kindly  as  soon  as  known.  Even  the 
tierce  Blackfeet  Sioux  received  him  with  reverence  and 
listened  to  his  instructions.  He  visited  thirty-six  dif- 
ferent tribes,  numbering  at  least  forty  thousand  souls. 
Wandering  among  them  he  found  a  countryman,  John 
Baptist  de  Yelder,  from  Ghent,  an  ex-grenadier  of 
Napoleon,  who  had  exchanged  grenade  and  axe  for 
rifle  and  fur-trap,  and  had  dwelt  thirty  years  now  in 


'  Letters  and  Sketches,  with  a  narrative  of  a  year's  residence  among 
the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  By  P.  J.  de  Smet,  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus.    Philadelphia,  1843. 


IN  North  America.  425 

pursuit  of  the  bear  and  beaver.  He  liad  forgotten  his 
native  tongue  almost  completely,  remembering  only 
his  prayers  and  a  hymn  to  Saint  Mary  the  Virgin, 
which  his  mother  had  taught  him  when  a  child. 

We  do  not  notice  here  the  thousand  objects  of  in- 
terest in  this  missionary's  charming  letters ;  nor  his 
perils  from  hunger,  exposure,  from  venomous  serpents, 
from  the  grizzly  bear  or  panther,  and  from  wilder, 
fiercer  mortals,  who  perpetually  shed  each  others' 
blood  around  him.  He  found  something  good  in  the 
worst  of  them.  He  recounts,  for  instance,  the  insa- 
tiate blood-lust,  and  measureless,  ingenious  cruelty  of 
the  Kansas  to  their  prisoners  and  foes ;  yet  says  even 
of  them — "  However  cruel  they  may  be  to  their  foes, 
the  Kansas  are  no  strangers  to  the  tenderest  senti- 
ments of  piety,  friendship,  and  compassion.  They  are 
often  inconsolable  for  the  death  of  their  relations,  and 
leave  nothing  undone  to  give  proof  of  their  sorrow. 
Then  only  do  they  suffer  their  hair  to  grow — long  hair 
being  a  sign  of  long  mourning.  The  principal  chief 
apologized  for  the  length  of  his  hair,  informing  us  of 
what  we  could  have  divined  from  the  sadness  of  his 
countenance,  that  he  had  lost  his  son.  I  wish  I  could 
represent  to  you  the  respect,  astonishment,  and  com- 
passion, expressed  on  the  countenances  of  three  others, 
when  they  visited  our  httle  chapel  for  the  first  time. 
When  we  showed  them  an  '  Ecce  Homo'  and  a  statue 
of  our  Lady  of  the  Seven  Dolors,  and  the  interpreter 
explained  to  them  that  that  head,  crowned  with  thorns, 
and  that  countenance,  defiled  with  insults,  were  the 


426  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

true  and  real  image  of  a  God  wlio  had  died  for  the 
love  of  us,  and  that  the  heart  tliey  saw  pierced  with 
seven  swords  was  the  heart  of  his  mother,  we  beheld 
an  affecting  illustration  of   the  beautiful  thought  of 
TertuUian,  that  the  soul  of  man  is  naturally  Christian." 
He  is  again  met  by  the  Flatheads  the  next  year, 
1841,  near  Saint  Mary's  Eiver,  on  the  Feast  of  Our 
Blessed  Lady's  glorious  Assumption.    He  had  to  hsten 
to  a  hundred  stories,  and  to  learn  with  joy  that  "  they 
had  prayed  daily  to  obtain  for  me  a  happy  journey  and 
a  speedy  return.      Their  brethren   continued  in  the 
same  good  disposition ;  almost  all,  even  children  and 
old  men,  knew  by  heart  the  prayers  which  I  had  taught 
them  the  preceding  year.     Twice  on  every  week-day, 
and  three  times  on  each  Sunday,  the  assembled  tribe 
recited  prayers  in  common.     "Whenever  they  moved 
their  camp,  they  carried  with  them,  as  an  ark  of  safety, 
the  box   of   church  vestments  left  in  their   custody. 
Five  or  six  children,  whom  I  had  baptized,  had  gone 
to  heaven  during  my  absence  :  the  very  day  after  my 
departure,  a  young  warrior,  whom  I  had  baptized  the 
day  previous,  died  in  consequence  of  a  wound  received 
from  the  Blackfeet  about  three  months  before.     And 
another,  who  had  accompanied  me  as  far  as  the  forts 
of  the  Crows,  and  as  yet  but  a  catechumen,  died  of 
sickness  in  returning  to  the  tribe,  but  in  such  happy 
dispositions  that  his  mother  was  perfectly  consoled  for 
his  loss  by  the  conviction  that  his  soul  was  in  heaven. 
A  girl,  about  twelve  years  of  age,  seeing  herself  on  the 
point  of  dying,  had  sohcited  baptism  with  such  ear- 


IN  North  America.  427 

nestness  that  she  was  baptized  by  Peter,  the  Iroquois, 
and  received  the  name  of  Marj.  After  having  sung  a 
hymn  in  a  stronger  voice  than  usual,  she  died,  saying, 
'  Oh,  how  beautiful !    I  see  Mary,  my  mother.'  " 

From  that  time,  the  Mission  of  Saint  Mary's  ad- 
vances steadfastly  in  sanctity.  In  October,  the  good 
Black-robe  thus  expresses  his  joy  over  the  souls  of  his 
red  children.^ 

"  Next  to  the  Author  of  all  good  things,  we  returned 
thanks  to  her  whom  the  Church  reveres  as  the  Mother 
of  her  Divme  Si30use,  since  it  has  pleased  the  Divine 
goodness  to  send  us  the  greatest  consolation  on  several 
days  consecrated  to  her  honor.  On  the  feast  of  her 
glorious  Assumption  we  met  the  vanguard  of  our  dear 
neophytes.  On  the  Sunday  within  the  Octave,  we,  for 
the  first  time  since  my  return,  celebrated  the  Holy 
Mysteries  among  them.  On  the  following  Sunday  our 
good  Indians  placed  themselves  and  their  children  un- 
der the  protection  of  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary, 
of  which  we  then  celebrated  the  feast.  This  act  of 
devotion  was  renewed  by  the  great  chief  in  the  name 
of  his  whole  tribe,  on  the  feast  of  her  Holy  Name. 
On  the  24th  of  September,  the  feast  of  Our  Lady  of 
Mercy,  we  arrived  at  the  river  called  Bitter  Eoot,  on 
the  banks  of  which  we  have  chosen  the  site  for  our 
principal  missionary  station.  On  the  first  Sunday  of 
October,  feast  of  the  Rosary,  we  took  possession  of 
the  promised  land,  by  planting  a  cross  on  the  spot 

'  Sketches,  p.  133. 


428  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

which  we  had  chosen  for  our  first  residence.  What 
motives  of  encouragement  does  not  the  Gospel  of  the 
present  Sunday  add  to  all  those  mentioned  before. 
To-day,  too,  we  celebrate  the  Sacred  Maternity  of 
Mary ;  and  what  may  we  not  expect  from  the  Virgin 
Mother  who  brought  forth  her  Son  for  the  Salvation  of 
the  world  ?" 

"  On  the  feast  of  her  Patronage,  we  shall  offer  by 
her  mediation  to  her  Divine  Son,  twenty-five  young 
Indians,  who  are  to  be  baptized  on  that  day.  So  many 
favors  have  induced  us  unanimously  to  proclaim  Mary 
the  protectress  of  our  mission,  and  to  give  her  beauti- 
ful Name  to  our  new  residence."  By  December,  a 
solid  wooden  chapel  is  erected,  wherein,  after  weeks  of 
instruction,  the  fathers  rejoice  in  the  baptism  of  two 
liundred  and  two  adults.  Proud  and  happy  were  the 
Indians  when  they  ^aw  their  chapel  adorned.  For, 
"some  days  previously  the  Fathers  had  engaged  all 
who  were  willing,  to  make  mats  of  rushes  or  straw. 
All  the  women,  girls,  and  children  assembled  eagerly 
for  this  good  work,  so  that  they  had  enough  to  cover 
the  floor  and  ceihng,  and  hang  round  the  walls.  These 
mats,  ornamented  with  festoons  of  green,  made  a 
pretty  drapery  around  the  altar.  On  a  canopy  was 
inscribed  the  holy  name  of  Jesus.  Among  the  orna- 
ments they  placed  a  picture  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  over 
the  tabernacle." 

Then  back  to  the  instructions ;  and  in  the  joyous 
Christmas-tide  they  have  a  new  baptismal  fete,  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  Flatheads,  the  last  of  the  pagans. 


IN  NoETH  America.  429 

with  three  chiefs  at  their  head ;  thirty  Nez-Perces, 
with  their  chief;  a  Blackfoot  chief  and  his  family. 
Seven  hundred  adults  baptized  in  one  year,  and  a 
little  army  of  children  !  Thus  he  sums  up  the  fruits  of 
the  year,  in  that  Mission  of  Saint  Mary's  in  the  Eocky 
Mountains  :  "  The  whole  Flathead  nation  converted ; 
four  hundred  Kahspels  baptized ;  eighty  Nez-Perces, 
several  Coeurs  d'Alenes ;  many  Koetenays,  Blackfeet, 
Snakes,  and  Banacs — the  Sinpoils,  the  Chaudieres, 
who  open  thek  arms  to  us,  and  eagerly  ask  for  Fathers 
to  instruct  them  ;  the  earnest  demands  from  Fort  Van- 
couver on  the  part  of  the  governor,  and  of  the  Eev. 
Mr.  Blanchet,  assuring  us  of  the  good  desires  and  dis- 
positions of  a  great  number  of  nations,  who  are  ready 
to  receive  the  gospel — in  a  word,  a  vast  country,  which 
only  awaits  the  arrival  of  true  ministers  of  God,  to 
rally  round  the  standard  of  the  Cross.  Behold  the 
beautiful  bouquet,  Eev.  Father,  which  we  have  the 
happiness  of  presenting  you  at  the  close  of  1841." 

Next  year,  Father  de  Smet  crosses  the  mountains  on 
a  visit  to  Columbia  Eiver,  a  dangerous  passage,  so  sav- 
agely broken  up  by  rifts  and  chasms  is  that  vast  bar- 
rier kno^\Ti  as  the  Eocky  Mountains.  "  On  one  occa- 
sion," he  says,  "  before  entering  the  forest,  we  crossed 
a  high  mountain  by  a  wild  winding  path.  Its  sides  are 
covered  with  fine  cedars  and  pines,  which  are,  however, 
of  smaller  dimensions  than  those  in  the  forest.  Sev- 
eral times  while  ascending  the  mountain  I  foimd  my- 
self on  parapets  of  rocks,  whence,  thanks  to  my  safe- 
footed  mule,  I  retired  in  safety.     Once  I  thought  my 


430  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

career  at  an  end.  I  had  wandered  from  my  compan- 
ions, and  following  the  path,  I  all  at  once  came  to  a 
rocky  projection  which  terminated  in  a  point  about 
two  feet  wide  ;  before  me  was  a  perpendicular  descent 
of  three  feet ;  on  my  left  stood  a  rock  as  straight  as 
a  wall,  and  on  my  right  yawned  a  precipice  of  about 
a  thousand  feet.  You  can  conceive  that  my  situation 
was  any  thing  but  pleasant.  The  slightest  false  step 
would  have  plunged  the  mule  and  his  rider  into  the 
abyss  beneath.  To  descend  was  impossible,  as  on  one 
side  I  was  closed  in  by  the  rock,  and  suspended  over 
a  dreadful  chasm  on  the  other.  My  mule  had  stopped 
at  the  commencement  of  the  descent,  and  not  having 
any  time  to  lose,  I  recommended  myself  to  God,  and, 
as  a  last  expedient,  sunk  my  spurs  deeply  into  the  sides 
of  my  poor  beast ;  she  made  one  bold  leap,  and  safely 
landed  me  on  another  parapet,  much  larger  than  that 

I  had  left." 

Consolations  are  found  everywhere  by  the  devoted 
servant  of  Mary,  because  the  presence  of  God  is  every- 
where, and  "  in  that  presence  only  is  the  fulness  of 
consolation." 

"  I  cannot  pass  over  in  silence  the  pleasant  meeting 
I  had  in  the  depth  of  the  forest.  I  discovered  a  httle 
hut  of  rushes,  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  river.  Kais- 
ing  my  voice  to  its  highest  pitch,  I  tried  to  make  its 
inhabitants  hear  me,  but  received  no  answer.  I  felt 
an  irresistible  desire  to  visit  it,  and  accordingly  made 
my  interpreter  accompany  me.  We  found  it  occupied 
by  a  poor  old  woman,  who  was  bhnd  and  very  ill.     I 


IN  North  America.  431 

spoke  to  her  of  the  Great  Sj)irit,  of  the  most  essential 
dogmas  of  our  faith,  and  of  baj)tism.  The  example  of 
the  Apostle  St.  Philip  teaches  lis  that  there  are  cases 
where  all  the  requisite  dispositions  may  entirely  consist 
in  an  act  of  faith,  and  in  the  sincere  desire  to  enter 
heaven  by  the  right  path.  All  the  answers  of  the  poor 
old  woman  were  respectful,  and  breathing  the  love  of 
God.  *  Yes,'  she  would  say,  '  I  love  the  Great  Spirit 
with  my  whole  heart ;  all  my  life  He  has  been  very 
kind  to  me.  Yes,  I  wish  to  be  His  child,  I  want  to  be 
His  forever.'  And  immediately  she  fell  on  her  knees, 
and  begged  me  to  give  her  baptism.  I  named  her 
Mary,  and  placed  around  her  neck  the  miraculous  medal 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  After  leaving  her,  I  overheard 
her  thanking  God  for  this  fortunate  adventure." 
Listen  now  to  the  legend  of  little  Paul.' 
"  On  Christmas  eve,  1841,  a  few  hours  before  the 
midnight  Mass,  the  village  of  St.  Mary  was  deemed 
worthy  of  a  special  mark  of  Heaven's  favor.  The 
Blessed  Virgin  appeared  to  a  little  orphan  boy  named 
Paul,  in  the  hut  of  an  aged  and  truly  pious  woman. 
The  youth,  piety,  and  sincerity  of  this  child,  joined  to 
the  nature  of  the  fact  which  he  related,  forbade  us  to 
doubt  the  truth  of  his  statement.  The  following  is 
what  he  recounted  to  me  with  his  own  innocent  lips  : 
'  Upon  entering  John's  hut,  whither  I  had  gone  to 
learn  my  prayers,  which  I  did  not  know,  I  saw  some 
one  who  was  very  beautiful.     Her  feet  did  not  touch 


'  Sketches,  etc.,  p.  193,  et  seq. 


132  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

tlie  eartli,  her  garments  were  as  white  as  snow  ;  she 
had  a  star  over  her  head,  a  serpent  under  her  feet,  and 
near  the  serpent  was  a  fruit  which  I  did  not  recognize. 
I  could  see  her  heart,  from  which  rays  of  Hght  burst 
forth  and  shone  upon  me.  When  I  first  beheld  all 
this  I  was  frightened,  but  afterwards  my  fear  left  me, 
my  heart  was  warmed,  my  mind  clear ;  and  I  do  not 
know  how  it  happened,  but  all  at  once  I  knew  my 
prayers.'  (To  be  brief,  I  omit  several  circumstances.) 
He  ended  his  account  by  saying  that  several  times 
the  same  person  had  appeared  to  him  while  he  was 
sleeping,  and  that  once  she  had  told  him  she  was  pleased 
that  the  first  village  of  the  Flatheads  should  be  called 
Saint  Mary.  The  child  had  never  seen  or  heard  before 
any  thing  of  the  kind;  he  did  not  even  know  if  the 
person  was  a  man  or  a  woman,  because  the  appearance 
of  the  dress  which  she  wore  was  enthely  unkno-wii  to 
him.  Several  persons  having  interrogated  the  child  on 
this  subject,  have  found  him  unvarying  in  his  answers. 
He  continues  by  his  conduct  to  be  the  angel  of  his 
tribe. 

"  Next  year,  1842,  we  performed  the  devotion  of  the 
month  of  Mary,  and  I  can  flatter  myself  that  the  ex- 
ercises were  attended  with  as  much  piety  and  edifica- 
tion as  in  the  most  devout  parishes  of  Europe.  At  the 
end  of  the  month  a  statue  was  borne  in  triumph  to 
the  very  place  where  our  Blessed  Mother  designed  to 
honor  us  with  the  aforementioned  apparition.  Since 
that  day  a  sort  of  pilgiimage  has  been  estabhshed 
there,  under  the  name  of  '  Oui-  Lady  of  Prayer.'     None 


IN  North  America.  433 

pass  tlie  pious  monument  without  stopping  to  pray  on 
tlieir  knees  ;  the  more  devout  come  regularly  twice  a 
day  to  speak  to  their  Mother  and  her  divine  Son,  and 
the  children  add  to  their  prayers  the  most  beautiful 
flowers  they  can  cull  in  the  prairies." 

A  glorious  Pentecost  followed,  with  renewal  of  the 
tribe's  self-consecration  to  the  Immaculate  Mother  of 
God ;  and  after  that  again,  "  the  feast  of  Corpus 
Christi  was  solemnized  by  another  ceremony  no  less 
touching,  and  calculated  to  perpetuate  the  gratitude 
and  devotion  of  our  pious  Indians  towards  our  amia- 
ble Queen.  This  was  the  solemn  erection  of  a  statue 
to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  in  memory  of  her  apparition  to 
little  Paul.  The  following  is  a  brief  account  of  the 
ceremony.  From  the  entrance  of  our  chapel  to  the 
spot  where  little  Paul  received  such  a  special  favor, 
the  avenue  was  simply  the  green  sward,  the  length  of 
which,  on  both  sides,  was  bordered  by  garlands,  hung 
in  festoons.  Triumphal  arches,  gracefully  arranged, 
arose  at  regular  distances.  At  the  end  of  the  avenue, 
and  in  the  middle  of  a  kind  of  repository,  stood  the 
pedestal  which  was  destined  to  receive  the  statue. 
The  hour  specified  having  struck,  the  procession 
issued  from  the  chapel  in  this  order.  At  the  head  was 
borne  aloft  the  banner  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  followed 
closely  by  little  Paul  carrying  the  statue  and  accom- 
panied by  two  choristers,  who  profusely  strewed  the 
way  with  flowers.  Then  came  the  two  Fathers,  one 
vested  in  a  cope,  and  the  other  in  a  surplice.  Finally 
the  march  was  closed  by  the  chiefs  and  all  the  mem- 

DD  19 


434  DevotioJt  to  the  B.  Y.  Mart 

bers  of  tlie  colony,  emulating  each  other  in  their  zeal 
to  pay  their  tribute  of  thanksgiving  and  praise  to  their 
Blessed  Mother.  "When  they  reached  the  spot,  one  of 
our  Fathers,  in  a  short  exhortation,  in  which  he  re- 
minded them  of  the  signal  prodigy  and  assistance  of 
the  Queen  of  Heaven,  encouraged  our  dear  neophytes 
to  sentiments  of  confidence  in  the  protection  of  Mary. 
After  this  address,  and  the  singing  of  the  Litany  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  the  procession  returned  in  the  same 
order  to  the  church.  Oh  !  how  ardently  we  desired  aU 
the  friends  of  our  holy  religion  could  have  mtnessed 
the  devotion  and  recollection  of  these  new  children  of 
Mary!" 

See,  then,  how  this  Blessed  Name  is  known,  even  as 
the  "holy  and  terrible  Name"'  of  God  is  known,  "from 
the  rising  of  the  sun  unto  the  going  down  of  the 
same;"'  how  it  is  sung  beneath  the  magnohas  of 
Floridian  woods,  and  praised  where  the  ice-bound  sea 
lies  silent  round  the  coasts  of  Labrador ;  how  the  tall 
arches  of  eastern  cathedrals  re-echo  its  melody,  and 
the  sound  of  its  sweetness  floats  off  from  the  peaks  of 
the  hills  of  Oregon  far  over  the  mde  blue  Pacific.  Li 
this  journey  of  short  two  years.  Father  de  Smet,  with 
his  colleagues.  Fathers  Mengarini  and  Point,  have  es- 
tablished a  church  in  the  wilderness.  They  have  de- 
stroyed lying,  thieving,  and  the  use  of  the  scalping- 
knife  in  several  tribes.  They  have  restored  mamage 
to    its    simpHcity    and    indestructibility ;    they    have 

*  Sanctum  et  terribile  Nomen  ejus. — Psalm  ex.         '  Malaclii,  iii. 


IN  NoETH  America.  435 

taught  the  wild  hunter  to  love  agriculture,  and,  .in 
some  degree,  the  mechanic  arts ;  they  have  elevated 
the  ■women  from  mere  drudges  to  Christian  compan- 
ions ;  they  have  baptized  one  thousand  six  hundred 
and  forty  souls. 

Soldier  and  trapper,  American  fur-trader  and  British 
governor,  no  less  than  the  poor  Indian,  bless  the  name 
and  work  of  the  Jesuit  missionary.  Governments 
seek  his  aid;  commanders  of  armies  thank  God  for 
his  presence ;  but  Parker  disapproves ;  Parker  is 
afflicted ;  Parker  will  be  an  obstacle  in  these  matters. 
"  Wlio  is  Parker  ?"  you  ask.  I  do  not  know.  Father 
de  Smet  knows  or  knew.  It  would  seem  that  he  had 
written  a  book ;  that  Parker  had  written  it,  since  he 
boasts  that,  in  1836,  on  his  way  homeward  from  these 
wilds,  he,  Parker,  "broke  down  a  cross  planted  by 
some  Catholic  Iroquois  over  a  child's  grave,  not  wish- 
ing to  leave  in  that  country  an  emblem  of  idolatry !" ' 

"  Poor  man !"  says  the  Black-robe  Chief  of  Prayer 
"  Were  he  to  return  to  these  mountains,  he  would  heai 
the  praises  of  the  holy  Name  of  Jesus  resounding 
among  them.  He  would  hear  Catholics  chanting  the 
love  and  mercies  of  God  from  the  rivers,  lakes,  moun- 
tains, prairies,  forests,  and  coasts  of  the  Columbia. 
He  would  behold  the  Cross  planted  from  shore  to 
shore  for  the  space  of  a  thousand  miles  ;  on  the  lofti- 
est height  of  the  Pointed-Heart  territory ;  on  the  tow- 
ering peaks  which  separate  the  waters  of  the  Missouri 

J  Sketches  of  de  Smet,  p.  213. 


436  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

from  ttose  of  tlie  Columbia ;  on  the  plains  of  Walla- 
mette,  Cowlitz,  and  Saint  Mary's.  The  words  of  Him 
who  said  that  this  holy  sign  should  '  draw  all  men  to 
Him,'  begin  to  be  verified  with  regard  to  the  poor 
strayed  sheep  of  this  vast  continent. 

"Were  he  who  destroyed  that  humble,  solitary 
cross  now  to  return,  he  would  find  the  image  of  Jesus 
Christ  crucified,  worn  on  the  breasts  of  more  than 
four  thousand  Indians,  and  their  smallest  child  would 
say  to  him  :  '  Mr.  Parker,  we  do  not  adore  the  Cross  ; 
but  do  not  break  it,  because  it  reminds  us  of  Him 
who  died  thereon  to  save  us.  As  for  us,  we  adore 
God  alone.' "  And  so  Father  de  Smet  leaves  Par- 
ker, and  the  above  is  his  only  appearance  in  this 
history.  We  do,  indeed,  desire  never  to  see  him 
any  more.  Nor  shall  we,  probably,  for  the  missionary 
has  started  back  for  Saint  Louis.  He  reached  that 
town  in  safety,  and  by  the  last  Sunday  in  October, 
1842,  as  he  tells  us,  "  he  was  kneeling  at  the  foot  of 
Saint  Mary's  altar,  offering  up  thanksgiving  to  God  for 
tTie  signal  protection  He  had  extended  to  His  poor  un- 
worthy servant." 


IN  NoETH  America.  437 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  Blaok-robe  in  Oregon— How  the  Black-robe  Dies— Eookt  Moun- 
tains AGAIN— The  March  of  the  Blackfeet  towards  the  Shkine  of 
OuB  Lady — Abbnaki  and  Flathead  todoh  hands. 

It  is  by  a  long  route  that  Father  de  Smet  revisits 
his  Indians  iq  1844.  Since  we  saw  him  last,  he  has 
been  to  Europe  for  re-enforcements,  and  returns  in  the 
Morning  Star,  escorting  round  Cape  Horn,  and  up  the 
Pacific  coast,  to  the  Wallamette  Mission  on  the  Colum- 
bia, "  Sister  Eenilda  and  her  companions,"  whose  ac- 
quaintance we  have  already  made.'  Before  taking  final 
leave  of  these  good  Sisters  of  Our  Lady,  let  us  give 
their  academy  the  benefit  of  an  advertisement ;  and, 
for  the  convenience  of  any  of  our  readers  who  may  de- 
sire to  send  their  daughters  to  Wallamette,  for  educa- 
tion, let  us  copy  the  price  demanded  for  a  quarter's 
tuition,  as  set  forth  in  the  Prospectus  of  the  Sisters  : 
"  Tuition  and  board  per  quarter,  100  lbs.  flour,  25  lbs. 
pork  or  36  of  beef,  1  sack  of  potatoes,  4  lbs.  hog's  lard, 
3  gallons  peas,  3  dozen  eggs,  4  lbs.  candles,  1  lb.  tea, 
and  4  lbs,  of  rice.""  From  which  it  may  be  seen  that 
the  Sisters  cannot  often  expect  their  claims  to  be  re- 
mitted by  mail. 

'   Vide  this  work,  p.  256. 

*  Missions  de  I'Oregon :  par  le  P&re  de  Smet,  p.  53. 


438  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maky 

"It  was  on  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption  of  our 
glorious  Lady  that  we  left  our  boats  for  the  shore," 
says  Father  de  Smet.  That  is,  on  the  15th  of  August, 
184:5.  He  finds  that  since  the  Mission  of  Upper 
Oregon  was  founded,  in  1839,  three  thousand  Indians 
have  been  baptized,  and  that  three  thousand  more  are 
to  be  added  to  these  from  other  Oregon  tribes  since 
1841.  The  track  of  the  Black-robe  winds  through  ten 
degrees  of  latitude  and  sixteen  of  longitude  ;  going  up 
to  Athabasca,  the  middle  one  of  that  amazing  chain  of 
inland  seas  which  unite  the  waters  of  Lake  Superior 
with  those  of  the  Ai'ctic  Ocean  and  Behring's  Strait. 
A  year  after  his  landing,  we  find  the  weariless  man  at 
the  station  of  St.  Mary's  Assumption,  the  Mission  of 
the  Flatbows,  Arcs-d-plats. 

"  Since  my  arrival  among  the  Indians,"  he  writes 
fiom  here,  "  the  feast  of  the  glorious  Assumption  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  has  ever  been  to  me  a  day  of 
great  consolation.  I  had  time  to  prepare  for  the  cele- 
bration of  this  solemn  festival.  Thanks  to  the  instruc- 
tions and  counsels  of  a  brave  Canadian,  Mr.  Berland, 
who  for  a  long  time  has  resided  among  them  in  the 
quality  of  trader,  I  found  the  little  tribe  of  Arcs-d-plats 
docile,  and  in  the  best  disposition  to  embrace  the 
faith.  They  had  ah'eady  been  instructed  in  the  prin- 
cipal mysteries  of  religion.  They  sang  hymns  in  the 
French  and  Indian  tongues.  They  number  about 
ninety  famihes.  I  celebrated  the  first  Mass  ever 
offered  in  their  land ;  after  which  ten  adults,  already 
advanced  in  age,  and  ninety  children  received  baptism. 


IN  North  America.  439 

The  former  were  very  attentive  to  all  my  instructions. 
In  the  afternoon,  the  planting  of  the  Cross  was  as 
solemn  as  circumstances  would  permit.  There  was  a 
grand  salute  of  ninety  guns,  and  at  the  foot  of  the 
lowly  standard  of  the  God-Saviour,  the  entire  tribe 
made  a  tender  of  their  hearts  to  Him,  with  the  promise 
of  inviolable  attachment  to  all  the  duties  of  true  chil- 
dren of  the  Prayer ;  availing  themselves  of  this  occa- 
sion to  renounce  the  remains  of  their  ancient  juggling 
and  superstition.  The  Cross  was  elevated  on  the 
border  of  a  lake,  and  the  station  received  the  beautiful 
name  of  the  Assumption.  Under  the  auspices  of  Mary, 
our  good  Mother,  in  whose  honor  they  have  for  many 
years  sung  hymns,  we  hope  that  rehgion  will  take  deep 
root  and  flourish  amidst  this  tribe,  where  union,  inno- 
cence, and  simplicity  reign  in  full  vigor." ' 

In  September  he  solemnly  plants  the  Cross  among 
the  Koetenays,  and,  on  the  Feast  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception,  baptizes  one  hundred  and  five  of  their 
number,  giving  them  our  Lady  of  that  Mystery  for 
Patroness  and  its  name  for  the  name  of  the  Station. 
On  the  Feast  of  the  Blessed  Virgin's  Nativity,  there 
are  a  planting  of  the  Cross  and  baptism  at  the  extreme 
sources  of  the  Columbia.  So  on,  from  point  to  point, 
never  received  ill  by  the  savages,  but  sometimes  in- 
deed with  hypocritic  fondling ;  sometimes  with  brutish 
indifference.   Ah,  the  field  in  which  he  had  to  hve,  and 


'  Missions  de  I'Oregon  et  Voyages  aux  Montagnes  Eoclieuses,  aux 
sources  de  la  Colombie,  de  I'Athabasca  et  du  Sascatshawin  en  1845-46 
Par  le  Pere  P.  J.  de  Smet,  de  la  Societe  de  Jesus.    Gand,  1848,  p.  78. 


440  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

sleep,  and  eat  among  the  nasty  Assiniboins!  What 
uncertainty  of  life  he  felt  among  the  blood-stained, 
untamable  Blackfeet!  What  wearisome  days  and 
nights  of  journeying  over  that  enormous  territory  he 
endured  that  he  might  win  souls  to  Christ ! 

But  now  and  then  he  would  meet  with  a  few  poor 
Iroquois,  one  family,  or  may  be  only  an  individual ; 
wandering  tribeless  and  priestless,  but  ever  faithful 
now,  lay  missionaries  among  their  pagan  congeners. 
Doing  this  penance,  as  it  were,  for  the  sanguinary  in- 
fideHty  of  their  ancestors.  By  and  by  he  gets  back  to 
Saint  Mary's,  to  his  good,  pious  Catholics,  the  Flat- 
heads,  the  Ear-rings,  and  the  Awl-hearts.  Of  them 
and  their  devotion  to  our  Blessed  Mother,  he  writes  as 
follows  to  a  benefactress  in  Europe  : 

"You  cannot  but  be  aware  that,  among  the  Indians, 
the  beads  are  recited  in  every  family,  so  that  I  am 
already  assured,  and  I  have  the  consolation  of  saying 
to  you,  that  many  thousand  recitations  of  the  chaplet 
have  already  been  offered  up  to  God  and  his  august 
Mother  for  you.  Those  good  Indians, — those  children 
of  the  forest, — so  dear  to  my  heart,  will  continue  to 
display  their  gratitude  till  I  tell  them  to  cease,  and 
that  will  not  be  very  soon.  What  confidence  have  I 
not  in  the  prayers  of  those  Indians,  whose  merit  is 
known  only  to  God !  Oh  !  if  it  be  true  that  the  prayer 
of  him  who  possesses  the  innocence,  the  simplicity, 
and  the  faith  of  a  child,  can  pierce  the  clouds,  is  all- 
powerful,  and  is  certainly  heard,  then  be  assured  that 
in  these  new  missions,  in  which  the  finger  of  God  has 


IN  North  America.  441 

been  so  visibly  manifested,  tliese  virtues  reign  pre- 
eminently ;  and  that  the  prayer  of  the  Indian  will  be 
heard  in  your  behalf!  How  happy  should  I  be,  my 
dear,  excellent  madam,  could  I  give  you  to  understand 
how  great,  how  sweet,  how  rapturous  is  their  devotion 
to  the  august  Mother  of  God!  The  name  of  Mary, 
which,  pronounced  in  the  Indian  language,  is  a  sweet 
and  endearing  sound,  delights  and  charms  them.  The 
hearts  of  these  good  children  of  the  forest  melt,  and 
seem  to  overflow,  when  they  sing  the  praises  of  her, 
whom  they,  as  well  as  we,  call  their  Mother.  Oh !  I 
feel  confident,  knowing,  as  I  do,  their  disposition,  that 
they  have  a  distinguished  place  in  the  heart  of  that 
Holy  Virgin;  and  that,  through  the  intercession  of 
Mary,  invoked  by  so  many  fervent  souls,  you,  their 
benefactress,  will  obtain  from  God  whatever  you  ask." ' 
Before  this  letter  was  written,  July  25,  1846,  and 
since  1843,  this  venerable  man  had  crossed  the  great 
American  desert  which  stretches  fi'om  the  frontier  of 
the  United  States  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  ;  had  overrun 
the  United  States  from  Saint  Louis  to  Baltimore  ;  from 
New  Orleans  to  New  York ;  had  seen  a  great  part  of 
Ii-eland  and  England,  all  Belgium,  Holland,  and  France, 
and  had  passed  through  Geneva  and  Leghorn  to  the 
presence  of  the  Supreme  Pontiff  in  eternal  Eome. 
Thence  over  the  Atlantic,  round  Cape  Horn,  up  the 
seven  thousand  miles  of  Pacific  coast  to  the  Columbia. 
Thence,  again,  to  wander  over  aU  Oregon ;  up  into 


'  Missions  de  I'Oregon,  p.  171. 
19* 


442  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Mary 

New  Caledonia  and  tlie  far  Britisli  Nortliwest  posses- 
sions ;  planting  crosses,  preaching  tlie  Gospel  of  the 
Son  of  God,  founding  Missions,  baptizing  thousands 
of  pagans,  giving  glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and 
honor  perpetual  to  Mary,  the  Mother  Yirgin  Immacu- 
late. 

"  So  faithfully  have  my  dear  Indians  prayed  for  me," 
he  says  in  the  same  letter,  "  that,  whether  by  sea  or 
land,  I  have  not  suffered  one  moment's  illness ;  nor 
had  to  deplore  a  single  grievous  accident.  Glory  to 
God  for  so  special  a  protection  :  and  gratitude  to  the 
good  Indians  who  ceased  not  night  or  day  to  invoke 
the  assistance  of  Heaven  through  the  intercession  of 
the  Holy  Yirgin  for  her  poor  unworthy  servant."  He 
dearly  loves  his  poor  Indians.  What  pastor  of  wi- 
savage  men  will  say  this?  "AYhen  the  priest  gives 
the  white  robe  at  baptism  to  these  people,  and  says  in 
the  words  of  the  Eoman  ritual,'  '  Take  this  white  robe 
and  wear  it  spotless  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  thou  mayest  inherit  eternal 
life,'  he  may  enjoy  the  moral  certitude  that  the  greater 
part  of  these  catechumens  will  preserve  their  innocence 
until  death.'"^ 


>  Rituale  Romanam.  Baptism.  Accipe  vestem  candidam  quam 
immaculatam  perferas  ante  tribunal  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi,  et 
habeas  vitam  aeternam. 

-  The  testimony  to  the  primitive  piety  and  simplicity  of  religious 
practice  among  the  Flatheads,  Ear-rings,  and  Awl-hearts,  is  not  that 
of  an  enthusiastic  and  imaginative  young  Missionary.  Father  de 
Smet  is  himself  a  very  grave  and  quiet  man  :  and  he  says  nothing  in 
this  way  of  praise  which  is  not  equalled,  if  not  surpassed,  by  the  Pro- 


IN  North  America.  443 

Let  Father  Point  of  the  same  Mission  explain  his 
ideas  of  the  source  of  this  so  great  goodness.  He 
says  :  "  It  is  to  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus  and  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary  that  the 
j)astors  of  souls  owe  their  consolation ;  at  least,  it  is 
thence,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  we  derive  ours.  Every 
day  our  Indians  invoke  these  treasuries  of  goodness, 
which  alone  explains  the  wonders  which  we  relate.'" 
Yesterday  they — the  Coeurs  d'Alenes — worshipped  the 
beasts  of  the  forest,  the  principle  of  evil,  a  colored  rag, 
the  hoof  of  a  mountain  antelope.  To-day,  all  who  are 
old  enough  have  made  their  first  Communion;  they 
are  guiding  cattle  and  sheep  and  swine  ;  they  are  cul- 
tivating the  fields ;  their  squaws  have  become  Chris- 
tian women  ;  their  faith  and  their  practice  would 
shame  us  in  our  educated  self-conceit,  were  our  sense 
of  shame  nearly  so  delicate  as  theirs. 

"If  ye  have  faith  even  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed, 
ye  shall  say  unto  this  sycamore-tree  :  Be  thou  removed 
hence  and  planted  in  the  middle  of  the  sea,  and  it 
sJiall  be  done.'' '  Most  men  profess  to  believe  in 
Him  who  spoke  these  words,  and  explain  these  and 
all  his  other  words  to  mean  nothing  at  all.  This, 
I  am  told,  is  the  exercise  of  reason.     It  is  lacking  to 

testant  governors,  Indian  agents,  army  officers,  and  traders  of  this 
country. — Vide  Exploring  Expedition  from  the  Mississippi  River  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean— Lieut.  MuUan,  U.  S.  A.,  p.  308 ;  Governor  Stevens' 
Eeport  to  the  President,  1854  ;  President's  Message  to  Congress,  1854 
-5  ;  Washington  Irving's  Bonneville,  pp.  390-91  ;  Putnam,  vol. 
10,  &c. 

^  De  Smet's  Oregon,  p.  183.  "  Saint  Luke's  Gospel,  xvii.  6. 


444  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

the  barbarians  who  inhabit  the  Oregon  village  which 
is  called  "  Heart  of  Jesus."  "  Father,  my  little  girl's 
dying;  all  your  medicines  have  done  her  no  good; 
she  refuses  the  breast ;  she  is  dying."  Such  is  one 
Indian  father's  report  to  the  Black-robe.  "  Has  the 
child  a  medal  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  ?"  "  No, 
Father."  "Take  this  one  then,  hang  it  round  her 
neck,  and  do  thou  and  thy  wife  pray  the  prayer  there- 
on written :  '  Holy  Mary,  conceived  without  sin,  pray 
for  us  who  implore  thine  aid.'  "  The  Indian  took  the 
medal  and  departed,  and  when  the  Black-robe  met  him 
next  day,  he  asked:  "How  is  your  little  child?" 
"  Oh,"  said  the  savage  simply,  "  she  is  weU !"  What 
wonder  that  every  year  the  tribe  renews  its  act  of 
consecration  to  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  that  dear 
Mother ! 

But  prayer  in  our  days,  however  fervent  and  con- 
stant, wiU  not  win  the  white  man's  veneration.  Let 
us  see  if  the  Black-robe  be  good  for  aught  else.  It 
was  a  dangerous  time  going  down  the  upper  Missouri : 
bloodshed  daily  :  bitter  wrongs  were  to  be  washed  red, 
by  savage  men  whose  sense  of  justice  was  very  uncivil- 
ized and  primitive.  As  for  us  Black-robes,  on  the  20th 
of  October,  1847,  we  had  gone  ashore  for  the  night — 
"  our  fire  was  seen  by  a  band  of  Arikaras,  armed  to 
the  teeth.  They  crept  in  close  to  us  in  the  gloom, 
wdthout  our  having  perceived  any  trace  of  them. 
Their  chief  recognized  me  (de  Smet)  in  the  fitful  blaze 
of  the  fire,  by  the  Cross  which  hung  upon  my  breast, 
and  by  my  cassock.     He  flung  down  his  mace,  which 


*  IX  North  Ajvieeica.  445 

was  quivering  in  his  grijje  as  lie  made  ready  for  a 
spring,  and  bounding  towards  the  fire,  caught  me  in 
his  arms,  saying,  '  Ah,  but  thou  wert  near  departing 
for  the  land  of  Spirits.  "We  thought  thee  far  from 
here  :  we  took  thee  for  a  foe.'  "  Of  all  the  tribes  in 
this  part  of  the  desert,  the  whites  have  most  terror  of 
the  bloody  Arikaras.  From  this  chief  and  from  all  his 
men  Black-robe  de  Smet  received  a  solemn  promise, 
that  they  would  never  again  approach  a  party  of  white 
men  except  with  the  pipe  of  peace  in  their  hands. 
Now  all  who  know  Indians,  know,  that,  whether  for 
good  or  evil,  they  keep  their  promises. 

Look  now  at  this  storr  of  the  Black-robes,  de  Smet 
and   Hoeken,   if  you   fancy   that   their  physical   and 
spiritual  way  Hes  altogeiher  through  flowers.     Father 
Hoeken,  remember,  is  returning  from  a  visit  to  Saint 
Louis  after  fifteen  years'  Indian  IMission.     They  are  on 
board  a  steamer  stnigghng  up  the  Mississippi  to  Fort 
Union,  two  thousand  miles  north  of  Saint  Louis.     The 
summer  had  been  rainy  beyond  example,  the  Father  of 
Waters  was  in  flood,  covering  so  much  land  beyond  his 
banks  as  to  be  sometimes  fifteen  miles  wide.     There 
were  over  a  hundred  passengers  on  board,  eighty  em- 
ployees, for  instance,  of  the  American  Fur  Company. 
The  force  of  the  furious  current  rendered  their  prog- 
ress  almost   impossible.      The   rains  were   continual. 
The  change  from  violent  heat  to  piercing  chill  damp 
occurred  more  than  once,  every  day.     A  dozen  different 
diseases  broke  out :  strong  Father  de  Smet  succumbed 
at  last  to  a  low  biUous  typoid  fever ;  and  finally,  Asiatic 


446  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey     ' 

cholera  declared  its  terrible  presence  among  the  pas- 
sengers and  crew.  The  boat  had  become  a  floating 
hospital.  On  the  10th  of  June  a  clerk  of  the  Company 
was  seized  with  the  cholera ;  in  a  few  hours  he  was 
dead.  Others  followed  him  in  swift  succession.  De 
Smet  lay  powerless  in  his  cabin. 

But  night  and  day,  indefatigable,  heroic  Father 
Hoeken  attended  the  sick,  and  said  the  last  prayers 
over  the  dead.  Priest,  doctor,  and  nurse  at  once,  he 
aided  and  waited  on  the  ill  in  their  sufferings,  prepared 
their  remedies,  rubbed  them  with  camphorated  spirits, 
heard  their  confessions  ere  they  died,  went  on  shore  to 
bless  the  grave  scooped  out  upon  the  bank  for  their 
remains,  and  interred  them  with  the  sacred  solemnity 
of  the  ritual.  But  his  life  of  privations  among  the  In- 
dians, his  labors  and  perpetual  journeys  had  broken  a 
once  iron  constitution.  This  terrible  hospital  duty 
was  destined  to  give  the  last  blow.  By  and  by  it  ap- 
peared that  the  illness  of  de  Smet  was  changing  into 
the  cholera ;  so  he  besought  his  comrade  to  hear  his 
confession  and  to  administer  the  last  unction.  But 
Hoeken,  who  had  that  day  assisted  three  dying  per- 
sons, assured  Father  de  Smet  that  he  was  not  to  be 
the  fourth. 

Their  cabins,  or  state-rooms,  adjoined  each  other. 
Some  hours  after  this  interview,  between  one  and  two 
at  night,  when  all  was  silent  but  the  sighs  and  groans 
of  the  sick  and  dying,  the  prostrate  de  Smet  heard 
Father  Hoeken' s  voice,  the  voice  as  of  one  in  his 
agony,  calHng  to  him  for  help.     He  roUed  from  his 


IN  NoETH  America.  447 

berth  as  best  lie  might,  dragged  himself  along  the 
floor  into  the  cabin  of  his  fi-iend,  and  found  him  in  his 
extremity.  There,  dying  himself,  as  he  believed,  he 
heard  the  Missionary's  last  confession,  administered 
the  unction,  and  then  breathed  his  own  shrift  into  the 
dulled  ear  of  one,  abeady  almost  in  the  presence  of  his 
God.  "  Yes,  there,"  he  says,  "  I  made  my  confession, 
crouched,  weeping,  by  the  pillow  of  my  brother  in 
Jesus  Christ,  of  my  faithful  friend,  of  my  only  com- 
panion in  the  wilderness.  I,  ill  and  almost  dying,  con- 
fessed to  him  in  his  last  agony." ' 

There,  he  found  strength  to  recite  the  prayers  for 
the  agonizing ;  to  pronounce  the  final  absolution,  and 
then,  the  fair  soul  of  the  Black-robe  went  forth  to  the 
bosom  of  his  Redeemer.  He  had  preached  the  Gospel 
of  the  Son  of  God  to  thousands  of  pagans :  he  had 
planted  many  crosses  in  those  unblessed  wilds  ;  he  had 
founded  and  served  many  missions ;  he  had  baptized 
many  hundreds  of  heathen,  and  now  died  like  his 
master,  a  martyr  of  charity,  the  war-cry  "Jesus, 
Mary !"  on  his  lips,  in  the  fore-front  of  battle  with  his 
armor  on. 

So  when  a  fui'ious  plague  raged  among  the  unfor- 
tunate Osages  in  Upper  Missouri,  Father  Bax  was, 
under  God,  their  comfort  and  support.  Two  thousand 
Indians  had  he  baptized :  nearly  fifteen  hundred  of 
them,  swept  off  by  the  epidemic,  he  consoled  with  the 
last  Sacraments  of  the  Church.     His  last  letter  de- 

'  Annales  de  la  Propagation,  xxiv.  238-40. 


<ti8  Devotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Mary 

scribed  tlieir  fervor.  "  They  begged  to  hold  the  Cross 
in  their  hands  in  their  last  hour,  and  implored  that  the 
image  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  might  be  held  before 
them.  Begging  the  assistance  of  their  good  Mother, 
thej  turned  their  dying  eyes  upon  her  gentle  face  and 
kept  them  J&xed  there  until  they  expii-ed."  This 
Black-robe  also  was  physician,  catechist,  and  priest. 
He  rose  at  all  hours,  went  forth  in  all  weathers,  visited 
the  sick  and  dying,  baptized  the  children,  converted 
the  hardened  at  the  eleventh  hour :  breathed  the  foul 
miasm  of  the  plague,  slept  in  his  tainted  garments,  and 
arose  to  renew  his  trying  duties.  The  Indians  called 
him  "  The  Father  who  is  all  heart,"  and  it  was  with 
expressions  of  zealous  love  for  them  upon  his  lips 
that  he  resigned  his  Hfe  into  the  hands  of  Him  who 
gave  it.' 

Thus  die  the  soldiers  of  the  Company  of  Jesus  :  the 
chivalry  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven.  Three  days  before 
his  death.  Father  de  Theux,  another  of  these  grand 
Black-robes,  when  his  physician  told  him  that  he  could 
not  survive  the  morrow,  replied  gently  :  "  No,  Doctor, 
you  are  T\Tong.  I  shall  not  die  to-morrow,  I  shall  die  on 
Saturday.  Saturday  is  my  day."  He  had  always  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  die  on  some  day  consecrated  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  and  he  was  confident  that  his  desire 
would  be  fulfilled.  And  so,  Saturday  morning  found 
him  still  alive,  and  murmuring  at  intervals,   "  Jesus, 


^  Cinquante  Nouvelles  Lettres  da  R.  P.  De  Smet.    Paxis  et  Touniai, 

1858,  p.  245. 


m  NoETH  America.  449 

have  mercy  on  me !  Mary,  pray  for  me ! '  and  witli 
these  words  on  his  lips,  he  died  on  that  day  of  the 
week  which  is  given  to  the  special  honor  of  Saint 
Mary.  One  of  his  last  acts  on  his  Mission  was  to  es- 
tablish the  Arch-confraternity  of  the  Immaculate 
Heart  of  Mary ;  and  he  it  was,  who,  when  consulted 
by  a  venerable  archbishop,  in  troubled  times,  as  to 
what  course  were  best  to  pursue  for  rehef,  he  it  was 
who  made  answer :  "  Have  earnest  recourse  to  the 
Supreme  PontijBf,  and  obtain  his  permission  to  insert 
in  the  proper  place  in  Mass  and  Office  the  word  '  Im- 
maculate,^  before  the  word  *  Conception.'  " ' 

What  wonder  then  that,  with  such  men  in  pursuit  of 
their  souls,  we  find  even  the  fierce  Blackfeet  Sioux  be- 
ginning in  1855  to  yield.  That  year  Father  Point  could 
register  six  hundred  and  sixty-seven  baptisms,  and  the 
wild  blood-drinkers  began  to  look  with  wondering  ad- 
miration at  their  brave  old  enemies,  the  Flatheads. 
"  For  there,"  says  Father  Adrian  Hoeken,  brother  of 
him  just  commemorated,  "  they  all  admire  the  deep  and 
tender  devotion  of  the  Indians  for  Mary ;  a  certain 
sign  that  the  roots  of  faith  have  struck  deep  into  their 
hearts.  Every  morning  and  evening  the  families  meet 
in  their  wigwams  to  recite  the  rosary  in  common  : 
every  day  they  implore  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  offer 
their  thanks  to  the  Great  Spirit,  that  He  hath  drawn 
them  out  from  the  old  night  of  their  paganism." 

Finally  from  his  last  journey,  in  1859,  made  as  chap- 

'  Cinquante  Nouvelles  Lettres,  p.  426 


450  Devotion  to  B.  V.  Maby 

lain  to  the  United  States  army,  Father  de  Smet  brings 
hack  from  Father  Point  this  story  of  a  Blackfeet  battle.' 
"  When  Father  Point  was  among  the  Blackfeet,  he 
presented  crosses  to  several  chiefs  as  disthictive  marks  ; 
he  explained  to  them  their  signification,  exliorting 
them,  especially  when  in  danger,  to  invoke  the  Son  of 
God,  whose  image  they  bore,  and  to  place  ui  Him  their 
entire  confidence.  The  chief  who  related  these  details, 
was  one  of  a  band  of  thirty  Indians  who  had  gone  to 
war  against  the  tribe  of  the  Crows.  The  latter  having 
tracked  their  enemies,  assembled  in  haste  and  in  great 
numbers  to  fight  and  exterminate  them.  They  soon 
discovered  them  barricaded  in  the  forest  and  protected 
by  a  collection  of  trees  and  branches,  and  surrounded 
them,  raising  at  the  same  time  the  war-cry.  The  Black- 
feet,  on  perceiving  the  superior  numbers  of  their  op- 
ponents, who  were  about  to  pounce  upon  them  sud- 
denly, were  under  the  persuasion  that  they  were  all 
about  to  perish  at  their  hands.  One  among  them  bore 
upon  his  breast  the  sign  of  salvation,  the  cross.  He 
then  recollected  the  advice  of  Father  Point,  which  he 
communicated  to  his  companions,  and  they  all  re- 
peated :  This  is  our  only  chaiice  of  safety  !  They  then 
invoked  the  Son  of  God,  and  left  the  barricade.  The 
bearer  of  the  cross  was  at  their  head  ;  he  pushed  for- 
ward, and  they  all  followed  him.  The  Crows  met  them 
with  a  volley  of  balls  and  arrows  :  not  one  of  them 
was  seriously  wounded,  and  they  all  escaped.    In  re- 


'  Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith.     Baltimore,  1860,  p.  2^. 


IN  North  America.  451 

lating  the  circumstance,  the  chief  added  in  an  energetic 
tone  :  '  Yes,  the  prayer  (religion)  of  the  Son  of  God  is 
alone  good  and  efficacious  ;  we  are  all  desirous  of  ren- 
dering ourselves  worthy  of  it,  and  of  embracing  it.'  " 

So  here  then  let  us  bid  our  Indian  apostle  farewell, 
so  far  as  this  book  is  concerned.  Little  more  than  a 
year  ago  we  enjoyed  his  society  for  a  morning,  and  re- 
ceived his  blessing  as  he  started  to  begin  a  new  jour- 
ney into  the  American  wilderness,  his  twenty-second 
year  of  these  wild  Missions.  We  gave  him  then  at 
parting  the  Scripture  History  in  the  Abnaki  language, 
and  the  curious  Church  Calendars  prepared  for  those 
Indians  by  their  Patriarch,  Eev.  Eugene  Vetromile. 
And  so  by  this  little  book  the  Owenegunga,  the  ancient 
servants  of  Mary,  stretch  out  their  hands  from  Maine 
and  from  Newfoundland  to  their  brethren  at  St.  Mary's 
of  the  riatheads  ;  or  at  the  village  of  Immaculate  Con- 
ception in  the  gorges  of  the  Eocky  Mountains. 

May  we  again  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  his  ven- 
erable face  in  this  hfe,  strong  as  when  he  bade  adieu 
to  Bishop  de  Earn  in  Belgium,'  and  ready  to  end  the 
narrative  of  his  new  adventure  as  he  does  that  of  1860, 
in  these  words  :  "  My  greatest  source  of  consolation  is 
that  of  having  been,  in  the  hands  of  Providence,  the 
instrument  of  eternal  salvation  to  nearly  nine  hundred 


1  At  their  leave-taking  Monseigneur  implored  the  Black-robe  to  give 
him  some  little  token  of  remembrance.  But  the  Missionary  had 
nothing.  So  taking  a  copper  sous  from  his  pocket,  he  bent  it  double 
with  his  teeth,  and  gave  that  to  the  bishop,  who  preserves  it  relig. 
iously. 


452  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Makt 

poor  dying  children  wliom  I  baptized.  Several  of  them 
seemed  only  to  be  waiting  for  this  happiness  to  fly  to 
their  God  and  praise  Him  forevermore. 

"  To  God  alone  be  all  the  glory  ;  and  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  humble  and  profound  gratitude  for  the 
protection  and  the  favors  received  during  this  my  last 
and  long  voyage.'" 


Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith.    Baltimore,  xxi.  234. 


m  NoETH  Ameeica.  453 


CHAPTEE  XXII. 

Bboken  Thbeads — Conclusion. 

At  length  we  have  reached  the  last  chapter  of  our 
appointed  task,  and  have  only  to  pick  up  the  broken 
threads  of  our  subject,  and  then  to  bid  farewell  to  our 
readers.  A  history  of  the  devotion  to  Blessed  Mary 
is,  after  all,  but  a  chapter  of  Church  History.  Where 
the  Church  goes,  there  goes  the  devotion ;  they  grow 
together,  they  stand  or  fall  together.  There  is  no  pos- 
sible separation  of  Mary  and  the  Church.  The  Mother 
of  the  Bridegroom  is  the  Mother  of  the  Mystical  Bride. 
But  still  every  century  can  furnish  new  illustrations  ; 
every  generation  of  men  will  find  novel  expressions  of 
the  perpetual  idea,  and  the  accumulation  of  such  illus- 
trations and  expressions  will  constitute  each  age's  His- 
tory of  the  Devotion. 

For  instance,  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the 
Mother  of  God  is  an  old  and  endless  truth ;  but  its 
dogmatic  definition  by  the  glorious  Pontiff  who  now 
wears  the  signet  of  the  Fisherman,  is  a  part  of  the  his- 
tory of  this  century.  Note  now  the  example  of  this 
fact,  in  our  little  book  here.  On  pages  137  and  144 
you  have  descriptions  of  two  churches  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  in  North  America,  as  early  as  1666 


454  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maet 

and  1675 ;  on  page  47  you  have  the  life  of  the  heroic 
discoverer  of  the  Northern  Mississippi,  a  life  wholly 
given  up  to  the  worship  of  this  sublime  mystery  from 
early  childhood,  in  1654.  And  in  the  sketch  of  the 
Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate,  of  the  Marists,  and 
other  new  orders,  you  have  to-day's  manner  of  ex- 
pressing the  old  idea.  The  historic  truth  stands  im- 
mutable, and  even  the  utterance  of  it  by  the  varying 
generations  is  less  remarkable  for  variety  than  for  re- 
ligious fervor  and  consistency. 

So,  then,  the  coUation  of  such  facts  as  church  dedi- 
cations, founding  of  orders,  sayings  of  men,  acts  of 
men  and  women,  directly  referring  themselves  to  Mary, 
make  up,  with  the  known  devotion  of  aU  Catholics, 
what  we  have  to  offer  as  our  best  attempt  at  a  History 
of  the  Devotion  in  North  America.  But  there  is  some- 
thing else  to  be  added.  Not  merely  what  is  peculiar 
to  North  America  makes  it  history,  but  that  also  which 
it  has  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  Catholic  world. 
The  extreme  proportion  of  churches  which  seek  the 
benediction  of  Mary's  name,  is  more  remarkable  by  its 
publicity,  but  not  by  its  popularity,  than  the  Sodali- 
ries.  Confraternities,  medal-wearing,  saying  of  Rosa- 
ries, and  other  devout  forms  of  showing  love  for  the 
Mother  of  God.  We  have  already  aUuded  to  the,  so 
far  as  we  know,  universality  among  all  classes  of  Catho- 
lics, of  carrying,  and  we  presume  naturally  of  saying, 
the  beads.  Furthermore,  not  to  judge,  but  simply  to 
offer  an  individual  observation,  it  is  the  American  and 
not  the  old  Cathohc  emigrant  who  is  most  prone  to 


IN  North  America.  455 

this  devotion.  Catholics  of  the  oldest  European  fideli- 
ties will  saj  to  you,  when  you  speak  of  the  beads : 
"Oh,  I  can  read."  Americans  of  two  centuries  of 
American-born,  educated  ancestors — of  names  world- 
revered  in  science  and  art — show  what  Protestants 
would  call  a  superstition  about  saying  their  chaplet. 
Generals  and  admirals,  shipping  merchants  of  New 
York,  prominent  lawyers,  favorite  and  most  successful 
physicians,  are  known  to  this  writer  as  fervently  par- 
ticular about  that  simplest,  most  childlike,  and  sweet- 
est of  devotions  to  our  gentle  lady-Mother.  Of  course, 
in  these  remarks  we  do  not  speak  of  converts  to  the 
faith,  for  the  zeal  of  a  convert  is  generally  excessive. 

Another  point  is  the  observable  piety  during  the 
month  of  May,  the  month  of  Mary.  There  is  scarcely 
a  missionary  parish  so  smaU  as  not  to  celebrate  it. 
Every  cathedral,  college,  chapel,  parish,  church,  and 
convent  chapel  has  an  altar  especially  decorated  for 
those  thirty-one  days.  The  month  is  opened  and 
closed  by  especial  solemnities.  A  preacher  is  audible 
at  least  once  a  week ;  the  sunset  devotions  are  nearly 
invariable  throughout  the  land,  and  the  large  number 
of  worshippers  is  surprising.  The  immense  majority 
of  Catholics  wear  the  scapular ;  you  will  with  difficulty 
find  here  and  there  one  without  the  medal  of  the  Im- 
maculate Conception. 

Then,  again,  many  thousands  belong  to  an  associa- 
tion, established  in  1858,  lately  approved  by  the  sov- 
ereign pontijff,  and  recommended  by  several  prelates, 
which  has  for  its  object  the  conversion  of  souls — an 


i56  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maey 

object  so  lioly,  that  the  Eternal  Son  of  God  became 
man,  and  remained  on  earth  thirty-three  years,  to  seek 
the  strayed  sheep  and  redeem  them  with  His  precious 
blood.  How  consoling  for  us  to  be  able,  by  means  of 
prayer  and  other  good  works,  to  co-operate  with  God 
in  the  salvation  of  souls,  the  most  divine,  as  St.  Denis 
calls  it,  of  all  employments.  St.  Chrysostom  assures 
us,  that  there  is  nothing  more  pleasing  to  God  than 
the  salvation  of  souls.  "Though  your  riches  should 
be  ever  so  great,"  says  he,  "yet,  by  convei-ting  one 
soul,  you  would  do  far  more  than  by  giving  aU  you 
have  to  the  poor." 

Now,  to  co-operate  in  this  glorious  work,  prayer  is 
one  of  the  most  efficacious  means.  "  Pray  for  one  an- 
other that  you  may  be  saved ;  for  the  continual  prayer 
of  a  just  man  avaUeth  much."'  "There  is  nothing 
more  powerful  than  a  man  who  prays,  because  such  a 
one  is  made  partaker  of  the  power  of  God." " 

The  members  are  most  earnestly  recommended  to 
offer  up  frequently  their  good  works  for  the  end  of  the 
Association ;  and  also  for  the  conversion  of  some  of 
their  friends,  chiefly  for  those  aheady  favorably  dis- 
posed. It  is  much  to  be  desired  that  the  members 
prepare  themselves  for  the  reception  of  the  sacraments 
on  all  those  festivals  on  which  a  plenary  indulgence  is 
granted.  Wlien  any  member  dies,  he  shall  be  recom- 
mended to  the  prayers  of  the  Association  in  the  place 
where  he  resided ;  and  every  member  there  residing 


1  St.  James,  v.  *  St.  Chrysostom. 


IN  North  America.  457 

shall  say  tliree  times  the  "  Our  Father"  and  the  "  Hail 
Mary,"  for  the  repose  of  the  deceased.  All  priests, 
members  of  the  Association,  are  requested  to  say  two 
Masses  a  year,  one  for  the  deceased  members,  and  the 
other  for  the  conversion  of  America. 

Prayers  for  the  conversion  of  America. — First  prayer, 
with  'indulgence :  "  Almighty  and  eternal  God,  who 
wisheth  to  save  all,  and  wilt  have  none  to  perish,  have 
regard  to  those  souls  who  are  led  astray  by  the  deceits 
of  the  devil,  that  the  hearts  of  those  who  err,  rejecting 
all  errors,  may  be  converted,  and  return  to  the  Unity 
of  Thy  Truth,  through  Christ,  our  Lord.     Amen." 

Second  prayer. — Memorare  (300  days'  indulgence 
every  time,  if  said  with  contrite  heart) : 

"Remember,  Mary,  tenderest-hearted  Virgin,  how 
fi-om  of  old  the  ear  hath  never  heard  that  he  who  ran 
to  thee  for  refuge,  implored  thy  help,  and  sought  thy 
prayers,  was  forsaken  of  God.  Virgin  of  virgins. 
Mother,  emboldened  by  this  confidence,  I  fly  to  thee ; 
to  thee  I  come,  and  in  thy  presence,  I,  a  weeping  sin- 
ner stand.  Mother  of  the  Word  Incarnate,  oh,  cast 
not  away  my  prayer ;  but,  in  thy  pity,  hear  and  an- 
swer.    Amen." 

"O  Mary,  Mother  of  Mercy,  Help  of  Christians, 
Refuge  of  Sinners,  lest  I  perish,  take  upon  thyself  the 
care  of  my  salvation,  and  the  salvation  of  all  those  in 
whose  behaK  I  implore  thy  powerful  mediation,  in  or- 
der that  all  may  be  brought  to  the  One  True  Fold,  in 
which  Jesus  Christ,  thy  Son,  wishes  us  all  to  Hve  and 

die.     Amen." 

20 


458  Deyotion  to  the  B.  Y.  Maey 

"  0  Mary,  conceived  witliout  sin,  pray  for  the  con- 
version of  tliis  country. 

"  Queen  of  Apostles,  conceived  witliout  sin,  pray  tlie 
Lord  of  tlie  harvest  that  He  send  laborers  into  His 
Harvest."  "  Our  Father,"  "  Hail  Mary,"  "  Glory  be 
to  the  Father,"  etc. 

To  become  a  member  of  the  Association,  nothing 
more  is  required  than  to  have  the  name  registered  in 
a  book  by  a  priest  of  the  diocese  in  which  it  is  estab- 
lished, and  to  say  daily,  in  honor  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  for  the  conversion 
of  America,  one  "  Hail  Mary,"  with  this  ejaculation  : 
"  O  Mary,  conceived  without  sin,  pray  for  the  conver- 
sion of  this  country."  No  special  meeting  is  requisite  ; 
but  it  will  be  sufficient,  wherever  the  Association  is 
established,  that  the  prayers  appointed  by  the  arch- 
bishop, or  bishop  of  the  diocese,  be  said  by  the  pastor, 
either  immediately  before  or  after  High  Mass,  vespers, 
or  any  public  service  on  Sundays.  It  is  most  ardently 
desired  that  once  every  month,  every  member  go  to 
confession  and  communion  for  the  conversion  of  Amer- 
ica. Should,  however,  any  member  receive  the  Holy 
Sacraments  monthly,  in  compliance  with  the  regula- 
tions of  any  other  Society  or  Confraternity,  he  may  by 
such  reception  comply  with  this  rule,  by  adding  the 
intention  of  the  Association  to  the  intention  or  inten- 
tions he  may  have  already  formed. 

A  plenary  indulgence  has  been  gi-anted,  1st.  On  the 
day  of  admission.  M.  On  the  16th  of  May,  the  day 
on  which  the  Association  was  established.     M.  Once 


m  NoETH  Ameeica.  459 

# 

a  month,  to  those  who  confess  and  receive  Holy  Com- 
munion. 4:tJi.  On  the  Nativity  of  our  Lord,  the  Feast 
of  St.  Joseph  (19th  of  March),  on  the  Feasts  of  the 
Purification,  Annunciation,  Assumption,  Nativity,  and 
Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  One 
hundred  days'  indulgence  to  members  who  assist  at 
the  weekly  meetings,  provided  they  say.  the  prayers 
apj)ointed  by  the  archbishop,  or  bishop  of  the  diocese. 
The  prayers  of  the  diocese  of  Cincinnati  are  three 
"  Hail  Marys."  One  hundred  days'  indulgence,  in  the 
archdiocese  of  Cincinnati  only,  are  granted  to  those 
who  bring  a  member  into  the  Association ;  and  a  him- 
dred  days  to  those  who  say  the  ejaculatory  prayer : 
"  O  Mary,  conceived  without  sin,  pray  for  the  conver- 
sion of  this  country."  The  propagation  of  this  good 
work  is  most  earnestly  recommended  to  the  zeal  of 
every  one,  and  especially  to  those  charged  with  the 
care  of  souls. 

"We  do  not  know  positively  but  that  the  discourage- 
ment of  writers  who  might  furnish  American  books  of 
devotion,  may  be  from  the  zeal  for  her  honor  in  the 
hearts  of  older  and  better  informed  Cathohcs.  It  may 
be  from  a  spirit  of  nationahty ;  it  may  be  from  the  wis- 
dom attained  by  authority ;  it  may  be  from  charity, 
lest  the  humiUty  of  the  Christian  should  be  injured  by 
some  notice  of  the  writer ;  but  the  consistent  discour- 
agement, although  generally  negative,  is  a  fact.  But 
for  all  that,  the  land  is  Mary's.  Why  shall  I  not  ad- 
vance thus  modestly  her  claim  to  it,  when  nations  have 
battled  and  are  battling  for  it  ? 


460  Devotion  to  the  B.  V.  Maky 

Who  then  lias  the  true  claim  to  the  ownership  of 
North  America  ?  The  red  Indian  steps  noiselessly  for- 
ward and  says,  "  It  is  I !  For  ages  immemorial  my 
fathers  fished  these  waters,  or  struck  down  the  game 
in  these  yet  undesecrated  forests."  "  I  claim  the  land," 
saith  the  Spaniard,  "  I,  who  redeemed  those  Southern 
pampas,  and  .first  taught  the  GuK  and  the  lagoon  the 
sounds  of  Christian  praise."  "  It  is  mirie,"  says  the 
fiery  Gaul.  "  The  snow- wastes  of  Canada  were  crim- 
soned with  French  blood  :  it  was  a  French  sword 
which  tamed  the  fierce  Iroquois,  and  tribes  of  every 
tongue,  the  roaming  Algonquin,  from  the  mighty 
ocean  to  the  mysterious  great  lakes." 

"  The  land  is  mine,"  says  the  English  Puritan  from 
Berks  or  Huntingdon;  or  the  English  Cavalier  from 
Derbyshire,  York,  and  Cumberland.  The  Highlander, 
in  gutturals  deep  as  those  with  which  he  turned  away 
from  the  red,  red  field  of  Culloden,  demands  at  least 
the  mountains  of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  the  cold 
coasts  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  part  of  the  shores  of  Saint 
Lawrence. 

But  we  cannot  grant  to  any  one  of  these  the  fuhiess 
of  his  claim.  Wherever  they  are  found  as  agents  act- 
ing subserviently  to  the  fulness  of  our  own  claim ; 
wherever  they  shall  seem  to  have  advanced  and  aided 
that,  we  win  give  them  the  praise  of  worthy  servants. 

Reverence  then  for  the  silent  Indian;  reverence, 
deep  as  justice,  mute  as  himself,  for  the  olden  lord  of 
this  land  !  Honor  to  the  swarth  Iberian  who  planted 
the  yellow  standard  of  Castile  on  the  shores  of  the 


IN  North  America.  461 

Mexican  Gulf ;  lionor  to  tlie  cliivalric  Frank  wlio 
swung  the  lilies  out  to  the  icy  air  of  Canada  :  honor  to 
the  broad-chested  Briton,  for  he  named  his  first  town 
Saint  Mary's :  honor  to  the  sinewy  son  of  the  green 
old  Island  of  Eire :  honor  to  the  patient  toiler  who 
came,  singing  harmonious  choruses,  from  the  arrowy 
rush  of  the  Rhine — but  glory  supreme  to  the  Lord  of 
Hosts,  from  whom  all  blessings  are  !  For  whom  and 
for  His  Mother,  we  claim  as  theirs,  by  right  of  first  dis- 
covery and  seizure,  this  North  American  continent. 
Glory  to  God,  the  Eternal,  and  honor  perpetual  to  Im- 
maculate Mary. 


INDEX. 


Abenaki  Indians,  165-188. 

Acadia,  8,  20S ;  destruction  of;  24,  294 

Abasistari,  Huron  cliief,  187. 

Aidan,  St.,  Relic  of,  340. 

Alabama  Missions,  14S. 

Algonquin  Indians,  184, 136,  196. 

Allouez,  Jesuit  Father,  8,  lOT. 

Alvarado,  5. 

Angela,  the  Indian  girl,  878. 

Angels,  Our  Lady  of,  61, 

Angelus,  Tlie,  155. 

Anne,  St,  45;  chapel  of,  124;  devotion  to, 

345. 
Apparition  of  Our  Lady,  431. 
Areskoui,  Worship  of,  renounced,  194 
Arichat  diocese,  83S. 
Arkansas,  Marquette  at,  9,  52. 
Asendas^.  Mohawk  chief,  204. 
Assiniboin  Indians,  372. 
Association  of  Children  of  Mary  In  the 

World,  314 ;  of  Prayer,  456. 
Assumption  Mission,  438. 
Athabasca  Lake  Mission,  869. 
Augustine,  St.,  Florida,  founded,  6. 
Awl-heart  Indians,  443. 

Badin,  Rev.  Stephen,  220,  283. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  157. 

Bancroft,  Tributes  from,  14,  25, 104 

Banriak  Indians,  429. 

Banner  of  Our  Lady,  131, 155,  261. 

Bannockbnrn,  Battle  of,  340. 

Baptism  of  Indians,  152,  158, 187,  195,  etc. 

Baraga,  Bishop,  48. 

Bardstown  diocese,  228. 

Barre,  de  1b,  124 

Bayley,  Bishop,  323. 

Beads,  The,  46,  58,  65,  203,  etc. 

Belmont,  Sulpician,  76,  92,  131. 

Benedict  XIII.,  Pope,  132. 

Benedict  XIV.,  Pope,  152. 

Bigot,  Father  James,  167. 

Bigot,  Father  Vincent,  167, 169, 174 

Billiart.  Julie,  254. 

Biron,  Marie,  139. 

Blackfeet,  429. 

Blackfeet  Sioux,  424 

Blanchet,  Archbishop,  256. 

Blin-Bourdon,  Vicomcesse,  253. 


Boniface,  8t,  diocese,  863. 

Bon  Secours,  Notre  Dame  de,  182. 

Boston  diocese,  223. 

Bourgooys,  Marguerite,  77,  81, 114  128. 

Bourget,  Bishop,  326. 

Brandy  traders,  42. 

Brebeuf,  Jesuit  Father,  martyr,  67,  68,  70. 

Bressani,  Jesuit  Father,  8,  65. 

Brothers  of  St.  Joseph,  240 ;   of  the  Hos^ 

pital,  124. 
Bruce,  King  Robert,  340. 
Brulart  de  Siilery,  165. 
Brunet,  Oblate  Father,  377. 
Brunner,  Fatlier,  280. 
Brunner,  Madame,  281. 
Brute,  Bishop,  272. 
Bufalo,  Canon  di,  280. 

California  Missions,  146, 163;  Indians,  161. 

Cambon,  154. 

Cancel,  Father,  6, 13. 

Carmel,  Mount,  monks  of,  153 ;   nuns  ot, 

226. 
Carroll,  Archbishop,  226. 
Catechism,  Indian.  48. 
Catherine  Tegahkouita,  196, 199. 
Cat  Island,  once  called  St.  Saviour's,  3. 
Cauvin,  Father,  321. 

Chabanel,  Jesuit  Father,  death  o^  65,  69. 
Champlain,  80. 
Charbonnel,  Bishop,  340. 
Charity,  Sisters  of  {vide  Sisters). 
Charles,  St.,  Mission,  61. 
Charlevoix,  Father  de,  111. 
Chartres,  Notre  Dame  de,  168,  212, 218,  21(i. 
Chaunieday,  Paul  de  (vide  Maisonneuve). 
Cbaumonot,  Jesuit  Father,  79,   106,   128, 

193,  205. 
Cherokee  Indian  Mission,  7,  148. 
Chesapeake  Bay,  St.  Mary's,  8,  157. 
Cheverus,  Cardinal,  846. 
Cheymol,  Father,  300. 
Children  taught  tiy  nuns,  264,  etc. 
Chinook  Indians,  263. 
Chippewa  Indians,  412. 
Chirouse,  Oblate  Father,  867. 
Cholenec,  Jesuit,  202. 
Cholera  in  Louisiana,  808;    in   Montreal, 

326 ;  on  the  Missouri,  446. 


464 


Index. 


Cincinnati  diocese.  258,  276,  237. 

Clares,  The  poor,  226. 

Cleveland  diocese,  301. 

Coeur-d'Aiene  Indians,  429,  440. 

Cointet,  Father,  242. 

Columbia  Eiver  Mission,  24,  etc. 

Colurubus,  Christopber,  1,  2;  his  succes- 
sors, 5. 

Conception  Immaculate,  9,  49,  53,  58,  108, 
203.  247,  307,  410. 

Confraternities,  127,  2S6,  344 

Congregation  of  our  Lady,  75,  81,  114,  327. 

Conquests  of  Mary,  22. 

Consecration  to  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  172, 
275,  304,  .337. 

Converts,  Eai'Iy  Indian,  67. 

Coronado,  5. 

Cote  St.  Lambert,  Chapel  of  Mary  at,  137. 

Council  of  Baltimore,  29. 

Creek  Indian  Mission,  7,  148. 

Cross,  The,  daughters  of,  277;  from  Ban- 
nockburn,  340;  De  Smet's  life  saved  by, 
444 ;  the  standard  of  the  Blackfeet,  397 ; 
planting  of,  447. 

Crow  Indians,  412. 

Crowning  of  pictures,  328. 

Cummin ville,  276. 

Dablon,  Jesuit  Father,  8, 107. 

Dacotah  Indians  {vide  Sioux). 

Daniel,  Father,  Jesuit  Martyr,  64. 

David,  Bishop,  220. 

Devotion  to  Blessed  Virgin,  Difference 
between  European  and  American,  17 ; 
blunders  about  it,  19 ;  obstacles  to,  here, 
20;  style  of,  here,  22;  beginning  o£  23; 
Marquette's,  6S;  Oiler's,  72;  oftheAben- 
akis,  168;  of  the  Ursulines,  304;  at  our 
Lady  of  the  Lake,  237;  in  Oregon,  24, 
cause  of  rapid  spread  o(  448, 

Dictionary,  Indian,  43. 

Dominicans,  278. 

Druillettes,  Jesuit  Father,  166. 

Dubois,  Bishop,  220,  272. 

Dubourg,  Bishop,  220,  297. 

Durieu,  Oblate  Father,  382. 

Dwenger,  Rev.  J.,  285. 

Ear-ring  Indians,  440,  442. 

Earthquake  in  Canada,  42. 

Einsiedeln  Our  Lady  of;  282. 

Elliot,  Rev.  Mr.,  25. 

Emigration,    French,    25 ;    German,    27 ; 

Irish,  26. 
English,  their  unkiudness,  26 ;  invasion  of 

Canada,  130. 
Erie  Indians,  105,  195. 

Farraud,  Oblate  Father,  868. 
FayoUe,  Father,  420. 
Fenelon,  Father,  76. 
Fenwick,  Bishop,  350. 
Fever,  Yellow,  303. 
Fire  in  convents,  39. 
Flaget,  BLshop,  220,  2Ta 
Flatbow  Indians.  438. 
Flathead  Indians,  423,  426. 
Florida  baptized   in  blood,  6;  origin  of 
name,  13;  Mi.'tsions  in,  148. 


Foreign  Missions,  Priests  of,  110. 
Foucault,  martyr,  112. 
Fourrier,  Blessed  Peter,  263. 
Franciscan  Sisters,  288. 
Francis  de  Sales',  St,  Mission,  167. 
Fremiot,  Jesuit  Father,  410. 
French  labor  for  Mary,  25 ;  French  zeal, 
26 ;  French  emigration  to  America,  26. 

Gacon,  Father,  300. 

Galitzin,  Prince,  229;  Princess,  313. 

Gamache,  Marquis  de,  63. 

Ganiieaktena,  Catherine,  195. 

Gannonakoa,  Stephen  te.  Chief;  195 

Garaconti6,  Chief,  195,  204. 

Gamier,  Jesuit  Father,  his  death,  64,  69. 

George.  Mother  Margaret,  276. 

GiUe  Mairi  nan  Gael,  338. 

Goiffon,  Oblate  Father,  406. 

Gononliatena,  Frances,  196. 

Goupil,  Kene,  torture  and  death,  65, 187. 

Grace,  Our  Lady  of,  324. 

Grandin,  Oblate  Father,  379. 

Gravier,  Jesuit  Father,  labors,  109,  HL 

Guadalupe,  Our  Lady  of,  151,  153. 

Hebridean  emigrants,  839. 
Herbomez,  d',  Oblate  Bishop,  875. 
Hiawatha's  welcome,  408. 
Highlanders  in  America,  338. 
Hoeken,  Jesuit  i'ather,  death,  44& 
Holy  Family,  127;  devotion  to,  207. 
Hospital  Brothers,  124. 
Hospital  of  Mary's  Help,  288. 
Hospital  Sisters,  60,  75,  79,  128,  28& 
Hotel  Dieu,  128. 
House  ot  Providence,  120,  361. 
Hudson's  Bay  Missions  {vide  Oblate),  15. 
Huron  Indians,  103;  conversion,  103;  their 
Loretto,  106. 

Illinois  Indians,  51. 

Immaculate  Conception,  9,  49,  53,  58, 108, 
203,  247,  307,  410,  433,  439,  453;  first 
church  of,  144;  second  church  of,  159. 

Incarnation.  Mother  Mary  of  the,  32,  33. 

Indian  Catholics  destroyed,  8,  148,  152, 
162. 

Indian  converts,  51,  97, 194,  205. 

Indian  Maries,  171 ;  missionaries,  47,  etc. ; 
Sisters,  97. 

Indian  hymn  to  Blessed  Virgin,  255; 
prayer,  354. 

Indian  Missions  among  Abenakis,  166-183 ; 
Algonquins,  165;  Assiniboins,  372;  Awl- 
hearts,  429,  440;  Bannaks,  429;  Black- 
feet,  429:  Californians.  153,154;  Cher- 
okees,  7;  Chinooks,  263;  Chippewas, 
107 ;  Crows,  412 ;  Dacotahs  (vide  Sioux); 
Ear-rings,  440,  442;  Floridians,  6,  13, 
148  ;  Flatbows,  438 ;  Flatheads  (vide 
De  Smet  and  Oblate);  Hurons,  64,  67, 
103;  Illinois,  51;  Iroquois,  184-204; 
Kalispels,  4-J9 ;  Kansas,  425 ;  Kaskaskias, 
Ills;  Koetenays,  429, 439 ;  Louisiana,  112; 
Miamis, 54;  Missouris,  153;  Micmacs.  61, 
151 ;  Mohawks,  184,  etc. ;  Montagnais, 
165,  370,  892;  Natchez,  7,  112;  New 
Mexicans,  5,  etc ;  New  York,  184-204 ; 


Index. 


465 


New  Cftledonlans,  259 ;  Nez-perc6s,  429 ; 

Oregons,  255,   423,   etc.;    Osages,  447; 

Peorifts,  111;  Seminoles,  14S;  Sinpoils, 

429;  Sioux,  420;  Snakes,  429;  Texans,  5, 

153;    Wyandots,    60;    Yakamas,    366; 

Yellow-knives,  337. 
Irish  emigrants,  26. 
Iroquois  Indians,  184,  etc.;  their  Mission, 

184. 

Jackson,  General  Andrew,  298. 

Jesuits,  the  Fathers,  9,  13,  47-59,   61-72, 

103-111,  165,  etc. 
Jogues,  Jesuit  Father,  martyr,  13,  48, 186, 

423,  etc. 
Joliet,  Sieur,  49. 
Joseph,  Saint,  Vision  of,  83;  Mission   of, 

61, 165. 
Jucherean,  Mother,  271, 

Kalispel  Indians,  429. 
Kansas  Indians,  425 ;  Missions,  425. 
Kaskaskia  Indians  and  Mission,  103. 
Kentucky  Missions,  277. 
Koetenay  Indians,  429,  439. 
Kryn,  RIohawk  chief,  195. 

La  Dauversiere,  Mr.  do,  79, 124 

Lake,  Our  Lady  of  the,  237. 

Lallemant,  Father,  martyr,  69. 

Lalor,  Miss  Alice,  226. 

Lamberville,  Father,  197. 

La  Prairie  Mission,  137,  144,  199. 

Lamy,  Bishop,  13. 

Laval,  Montmorency   de.  Bishop,  89,  98, 

144,  202. 
Laverlochere,  Oblate  Father,  862. 
Le  Ber,  Mademoiselle  Jeanne,  121,  131. 
Le  Maitre,  Father,  his  death,  76. 
Le  Pretre,  Seigneur  de,  93. 
Litany  of  Blessed  Virgin,  157,  286. 
Longeuil,  Baron  de,  121. 
Longfellow  quoted,  24,  266,  409,  421. 
Lorettines,  290,  315,  818. 
Loretto  in  North  America,  106,  229,  246. 
Loretto  Sisters  of,  277. 
Louisiana  Missions  and  Indians,  112. 
Lulworth  Castle,  221. 
Lynch,  Bishop,  818. 

Mace,  Reverend  Mother,  123 

Macdonald,  Rev.  Angus,  841, 

Macdonnell,  Bishop,  341. 

Mackinac,  Marquette  at,  49. 

Mackinnon,  Bishop,  339. 

Macleod,  342. 

Macleod,  Mary,  343 

Maine,  Missions  in,  846. 

Maisonneuve,  Lord  of,  75,  87-89. 

Manse,  Mademoiselle,  goes  to  Montreal,  78, 

Marechal.  Bishop,  220. 

Mareuil,  Father,  195. 

Maria  Hilf,  Maria  Stein,  28. 

Maria,  Santa,  ship  of  Columbus,  2. 

Marians,  69. 

Mark,  Franciscan  Father,  5. 

Marquette,  Jesuit  Father,  8;  sketch  of  his 

labors,  47,  107 ;  death,  58. 
Martin,  St.,  Convent,  292. 

30* 


Mary  Ako,  109. 

Mary,  Indian  women  so  called,  171. 

Mary,  Mother  of  God,  her  greatness,  4; 
her  maternity,  12;  channel  of  prayer 
and  grace,  18 ;  patroness  in  America,  30; 
lady  sovereign  of  Montreal,  79;  titles  of 
in  America,  115 ;  Indian  devotion  to, 
16.5,  172,  etc.;  Oblates  of,  359;  her  his- 
tory the  history  of  the  Church,  453; 
month  of,  432 ;  Lady  of  North  America, 
459;  conquests  in  America,  23. 

Mary  at  the  Foot  of  the  Cross,  Sisters  of, 
277. 

Mary  of  the  Incarnation,  32;  her  vision, 
33 ;  her  death,  47. 

Mary,  religious  so  named,  818. 

Maryland,  Missions  in,  156. 

Mazenod,  Bishop  de,  857. 

Medal,  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  23,  IIL  175, 
261,444,445. 

Meiaskwat,  Algonquin  chief,  166. 

Wembr6,  Father,  112. 

Memorare,  The,  in  Indian,  855. 

Mengarini,  Father,  434. 

Menard,  Father,  193. 

Mercy,  Sisters  of,  266. 

Messiah,  Abenaki  tradition  of;  44 

Mestre,  Oblate  Father,  897. 

Mexico  Missions,  24. 

Miami  Mission,  54. 

Micmac  Indians,  61,  151. 

Ministers,  Divine,  their  characteristics,  10. 

Missionaries,  English  (vide  Maryland), 
156;  French,  166,  etc.  {vide  Oblate, 
Jesuit,  etc.) ;  Spanish,  16,  33,  148 ;  Fran- 
ciscan, 13;  in  cities,  15. 

Missouri  Missions,  153. 

Mohawk  Indians,  175. 

Month  of  Mary,  432. 

Montigny,  Mr.,  112. 

Montmorency,  Bishop  Laval  de,  89,  144. 

Montreal,  its  founder,  70;  consecrated  to 
Mary,  127  {vide  Ville-Marie). 

Morning  Star,  Voyage  of  the,  258. 

Moulin,  Oblate  Fath^er,  400. 

Mountain,  Mission  of  the,  92,  139. 

Nagle,  Miss,  269. 

Narvaez,  5. 

Natchez  Indians,  Missions  to,  7. 

Neale,  Bishop,  226. 

Nerinckx,  Father,  277. 

New  Caledonia  Missions,  256. 

New  Mexico,  Missions  there,  146,  152. 

New  York,  first  Mission.s,  184 ;  first  church 
in,  193;  first  saint,  196;  devotion  to 
Mary  two  centuries  ago  in,  205 ;  diocese 
of,  227. 

Nez-perces  Indians,  429. 

Niagara  Falls,  318. 

Norridgewock  burned,  176. 

Notre  Dame  des  Victoires  {vide  Our 
Lady  and  Sisters),  18 ;  de  bon  Secours, 
18,  326;  de  Foie,  106.  203;  des  Neiges, 
139 ;  de  Prompt  Secours,  297. 

Notre  Dame,  Sisters  of,  114,  253,  268, 

Nova  Scotia  Missions,  61. 

Oblates  of  Mary,  859. 


466 


Index. 


Odin,  Archbishop,  808. 

Office  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  26S. 

Office,  Divine,  268. 

Olier,  John  de  Verneuil,  TO ;  his  devotion 
to  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  70,  73; 
founds  St.  Sulpice,  72;  death,  74;  devo- 
tion to  Holy  Family,  127. 

Olmos,  Fatlier  Andrew  di,  5. 

Oregon,  24,  255,  etc. ;  Oblates  there,  365 ; 
Jesuits  there,  255;  Sisters,  258. 

Orono,  Penobscot  chief,  182. 

Our  Lady  of  Angels,  61 ;  Ion  Secoura,  69, 
132,  136,  826;  Congregation  of,  75,  81, 
337;  of  Foie,  106,  203;  of  Guadalupe,  13, 
151;  of  Silver,  70;  of  Snows,  139;  of 
Victory,  118,  180,  144,  373 ;  of  various 
titles,  225,244;  of  the  Lake,  243;  of  the 
Solitude,  148;  of  Ganentaa,  193;  of  La 
Trappe,  287 ;  of  Peace,  290,  319,  320. 

Ouendraca,  Mary,  210. 

Ourihouar6,  Cayuga  chief,  196. 

Owenagunga,  182. 

Padilla,  Father  John  de,  5. 

Pantheism,  17. 

Parker,  preacher  iconoclast,  435. 

Paul,  Indian  boy.  Story  of,  431. 

Peace,  Oar  Lady  of;  290. 

Peltrie,  Madame  de  la,  37. 

Pensacola,  Settlement  of,  6. 

Peoria  Mission  and  Indiana,  111. 

Personality  of  God,  17. 

Philadelphia,  229. 

Pictures  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  20, 

145,  302. 
Pilgrimages,  American,  320,  323,  851. 
Planting  of  the  Cross,  447. 
Poems  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  140, 

324. 
Point,  Jesuit  Father,  434,  449. 
Poisson,  Martyr,  112. 
Ponce  de  Leon,  5. 
Poor  Clares,  226. 

Precious  Blood,  Congregation  of,  280. 
Priests  of  the  Foreign  Mission,  110. 
Prompt  Succor,  Our  Lady  of,  297. 
Protestant  testimony,  14,  25. 
Provencher,  Bishop,  363. 
Purcell,  Archbishop,  258,  280,  287. 


Quaylus,  76. 
Quebec,  62, 145. 

Ram,  Bishop  de,  451. 

Eappe,  Bishop,  300.  :,,,«„.. 

Easles,  Jesuit  Father,  martyred,  176,  846. 

Rattlesnakes  in  a  convent,  808. 

Recollect  Friars,  60,  108,  139, 144. 

Remas,  Oblate  Father,  373. 

Eenilda,  Sister,  268. 

Revolution,  French,  840,  856. 

Reynal,  Father,  296. 

Ribourde,  Death  of  Father,  lOa 

Richard,  Father,  220. 

Rosary,  The,  46, 154, 188,  268,  278,  286,  844. 

361 
Sacred  Heart,  Ladies  of,  813. 
Saggart  aroon,  27. 
;8L  Ambrose,  Sister,  807. 


St.  Augustine,  Florida,  founded,  6. 

St.  Charles,  61. 

St.  Come,  Mr.  de,  77 ;  martyr,  112. 

St.  Francis,  Mission,  167. 

St.  Mary's,  63,  (Maryland),  157,  (Onondaga), 

193,  (Flathead),  432. 
St  Palais,  Bishop  de,  240. 
St.  Vallier,  Bishop,  129. 
Salazar,  Father,  6. 
Salagnac  de  Fenelon,  76. 
Salmon,  Father,  death,  220. 
Santa  Maria,  Father  John  de,  martyr,  15i 
Saria,  Father,  death,  156. 
Saut  Ste.  Marie,  48. 
Scapular  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  28, 

455. 
Seal  of  Ville-Marie,  134 
Seminoles,  Meaning  of,  148. 
Servants   of    the    Immaculate   Heart   of 

Mary,  815. 
Beton,  Eebeccsi,  274. 
Seton,  Rov.  Mother,  227,  271,  273. 
Sillery,  Brulart  de,  61, 165. 
Sinpoil  Indians,  429. 
Sioux,  massacres,  897;   Missions   among, 

420. 
Sisters,  of  Ni^tre  Dame,  114,  253,  268 ;  of 
Charity,  271 ;  Gray  Sisters,  41,  276 ;  Hos- 
pital Sisters,  79, 128,  134 ;  of  Holy  Cross, 
246;    of  the  Visitation,  226;    of  Mercy, 
266,  267;   of  Providence,  279;    of  the 
Poor,  272;  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  816; 
of  Loretto,  277;  of  St.  Dominic,  278; 
various  orders,  287,  316. 
Smet,  Father  de,  255,  423,  434,  437. 
Smith,  Father  (Prince  GaliUin),  229. 
Snake  Indians,  429. 
Snows,  Our  Lady  of  the,  189. 
Sodalities,  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  23. 
Somera,  Father,  154. 
Sorin,  Father,  241. 
Soto,  Fernando  di,  5 ;  his  will,  149. 
Souart,  Father,  76,  77,  183. 
Souel,  Martyr,  lli 
Spanish  labor  for  Mary,  23. 
Statues  of  Mary,  8,  33,  93,  106,  183,  170, 

203,  209,  249,  298,  810,  828,  396,  483. 
Stella  Matutina,  249. 
St.  Vallier,  Bishop,  129. 
Sulpice,  St,  founded,  72. 
Sulpician  Fathers,  75,  76. 

Tach6,  Oblate  Bishop,  364,  3T0. 
Tegahkouita,  Catherine,  the  Saint  of  the 

Mohawks,  196,  198. 
Texan  Missions,  146. 
Thebais  of  Ohio,  The,  287. 
Theux,  De,  Jesuit  Father,  44a 
Tsawent6,  Mary,  195. 

Ursulines,  their  first  Houses  here,  82,  249 ; 
at  New  Orleans,  292;  in  Cincinnati, 
800;  in  Galveston,  302;  in  Cleveland, 
801. 

Vasquez  de  Ayllon,  5. 
Velder,  Father  de,  424. 
Ventadour,  Duke  of,  61. 
Vetromile,  Father  Eugene,  854 


Index. 


467 


Vestments,  Rare,  128. 
Verot,  Bishop,  13. 

Victory,  Our  Lady  of,  118, 180, 144,  873. 
Vignal,  death  of,  76. 
Ville-Marie,  81,  74,  113,  180. 
Virginia,  First  Missions  of,  7. 
Vist~^tation  of  Mary,  226;  Church  of,  138; 
Sisters  of,  226. 

Wallatnette  Mission,  263. 
Wampum  for  Our  Lady,  169,  208. 


Wanbanaki  Indians,  347. 
White  Father  in  Maryland,  157. 
Wisconsin,  The,  Marquette  there,  60. 
Wreck  of  English  fleet,  131. 
Wyandota,  or  Wendat  Indians,  60. 

Xavier,  St  Francis,  67,  417. 

Takama  Mission,  866, 
Yellow  Fever,  808. 
YeUow-knlfe  Indiana,  88T. 


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